A Change Of Fate
by ZombieSlayer995
Summary: AU: What if Lee was the one who had been separated from the group following Ben's fatal fall? After escaping Savannah, he runs into a woman named Sarita, and the duo end up finding a ski lodge. But when a familiar face arrives, what will happen? This story will feature more of the 400 Days characters, and features mostly original plotlines. Rated T, but rated M at certain parts
1. EPISODE ONE: NO TIME REMAINING

_**A/N: Okay folks, I am officially writing my story **__**A Change of Fate**__**, which follows a big 'what if?' What if Lee was separated from the group rather than Kenny in "No Time Left"? It starts during the events of "No Time Left", right after the group finds out that the boat was stolen. **_

_**I intend to break this story up into about five "episodes". The first three will be titled "No Time Remaining" due to the fact that it takes place during "No Time Left", "All That Remains", and the time in between. The next two are altered versions of "A House Divided" and "In Harm's Way". The story will also feature more of the 400 Days characters, and have original storylines following "In Harm's Way", and before "A House Divided". In fact, I have come up with a very expansive storyline that will take place after "In Harm's Way", and continue past this story.T**_

_**P.S.: This chapter will mostly just be completely canon events that are seen/done by most people who have played the game, but most other chapters will not be like this.**_

_**Well, without further ado, here is **__**A Change of Fate! Enjoy!**_

_Previously, on the Walking Dead:_

"_What if my parents come home, and I'm not there?" Clementine nervously inquired, before assuring both herself and Lee by saying, "I've got my walkie talkie in case they try that way."_

* * *

"_Holy shit!" Kenny exclaimed, "Baby, you gotta see this. There's a shitload of food and supplies back here!" After a brief discussion, the group decided to take the supplies from the seemingly deserted station wagon._

* * *

"_You didn't come into town by the railroad, did ya? Vernon inquired._

**Ben, seeing a large cluster of walkers from the train, yelled "WE GOTTA GO!"**

"_Yeah, why?" Kenny said, curious as to what had prompted Vernon to ask that._

* * *

"_Lee. We both know." Ben stated, letting go of Lee's arm. "Let me go. _

_After a brief moment of hesitation, Lee ignored Ben's request, and pulled him up, as the duo narrowly escaped the approaching horde of walkers._

* * *

_After much discussion with the group, it was decided that Lee, Christa, Omid, and Kenny would head out, hoping that they would be able to find and rescue Clementine, while leaving Ben in charge of guarding the boat._

* * *

_Suddenly, a garbled voice came out of the walkie-talkie, "Lee?" Clementine asked. _

_Lee instantly picked up the radio, and attempted to reach Clementine, only to hear another man reply "Hello, Lee."_

* * *

_Looking at his bloody wrist, Lee knew what needed to be done. "Fuck it." He muttered, "Cut it off."_

* * *

_Upon discovering Ben, and not the boat, within the shed, Ben blurted out, "Don't get mad…the boat's gone. They were waiting for me in here. Vernon, his whole crew." Leaving Kenny to scold Ben freely._

**And now that the 'previously' is out of the way, here comes the story!**

**Lee's POV**

Omid had climbed over the fence into the yard, and opened the door. Beckoning with his hand, he urged the others to enter the courtyard, presumably worried about walkers having pinpointed the source of Lee's gunshot. The group slowly began to walk into the courtyard, all the while listening to a furious Kenny berate Ben. Lee felt many different emotions when it came to the kid. He was angry with him for stealing meds from the group back at the motor inn, and for screwing up at Crawford, but he knew that Ben meant well, and could not bring himself to truly despise him like Kenny did.

Kenny's voice broke the silence, "Where the hell do you get off?" he scolded, furious that Ben had screwed up yet again.

"I'm just saying we should ALL chill," Ben quickly replied, seeming fairly flustered, "not just you." It seemed to Lee that Ben was unsuccessfully trying to end Kenny's outburst, but Lee knew Kenny, and he knew that nothing Ben did would stop Kenny from berating him. Taking a deep breath, he sighed as he watched the scene unfold before him.

Kenny grew even more furious at these words. "CHILL? Bandits? Hey, CHILL, here's some pills," Kenny mocked, "Vernon, hey, CHILL, HERE'S OUR FUCKING BOAT!" With every word Kenny said, Ben flinched and shrunk back, feeling more and more guilty and angry.

Ben's face fell as he gazed at the raging redneck before him, guilt and sadness clogging his gut. He desperately said, "This isn't my fault," presumably hoping that he could calm Kenny down. Lee opened his mouth to protest, but no sound came out. He couldn't think of anything that could possibly calm him down.

"I can't point to one THING that's happened that isn't somehow your fault!" Kenny shouted, staring daggers at the teenager. If looks could kill, Ben would not be dead, he'd be wiped off the face of the Earth. Lee considered intervening at this point, but he knew that what was going on in front of him wasn't his fight.

"Lee should have left you in Crawford." Kenny angrily added, causing Ben's face to contort in anger. Lee's eyes widened slightly at this. What had exited Kenny's mouth was cruel and unnecessary, and it made him feel all the more sorry for the teen in front of him.

Ben opened his mouth, but he only got as far as shouting, "FU—" when unwelcome yet familiar noise pierced their ears.

Lee craned his neck to the side, only to see a sight so horrifying that his heart seemed to have skipped a beat. Gasping in terror, Lee instinctively took a step backwards as hundreds of walkers edged their way towards the manor like sharks to blood, presumably drawn by the thundering sounds of gunfire and shouting.

Christa's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates upon seeing the vast number of corpses that were approaching their doorstep. "Oh shit!" Christa declared, rightfully frightened by the sight. "Here they come!" She bellowed.

"In the house!" Omid exclaimed, as the group turned around and began to run. Once Lee was sure that everyone had entered, he quickly slammed and locked the door, putting another line of defense between them and the herd.

Lee felt a sense of fear overcoming him as turned around. He was hoping that the others might be able to instill him with the sense of confidence that he always seemed to give them, but he was only met with the sight of their terrified faces. "They shouldn't be able to get into the backyard, right?" Kenny asked hopefully, fidgeting nervously while he waited for an answer. The man's hope was crushed when the group heard the walkers break through the shed and into the courtyard. "Maybe not." Kenny added, managing to maintain a calm demeanor.

"We can secure this place." Christa reassured them, a determined look in her eye.

Lee turned to his group-mates, and with an authoritative voice, he began to tell them what to do. "Christa, search the house for weapons." Lee ordered, knowing that with their limited supply of ammunition, any makeshift weapons would be vital to ensuring their safety.

"Kenny, move anything you can up against the doors and windows." Lee instructed, realizing that blocking and reinforcing the points of entry were needed to keep the herd at bay.

Lee directed, "Ben, help Christa." He recognized the fact that given the fact that Christa was searching a large house in a short amount of time, and that she needed help in order to maximize efficiency.

Kenny, Christa, and Ben ran off to follow the commands given to them by Lee. 'Here's to hoping that'll work.' Lee thought. He finally turned to Omid, who was gazing, wide-eyed, at the manor's main entrance, transfixed by a terrifying sight. "Omid." Lee commanded. Upon receiving no answer, he asked, "What is it?" At this point, Omid ran towards the front doors as fast as his legs could carry, which to Lee's horror, were ajar. At this point, Lee mustered up his most authoritative voice, and yelled, "EVERYONE, HELP OMID NOW!"

Lee himself began to rush to the front doors, but he was tripped by a walker that had somehow reached through the mechanized pet-door. Attempting to free himself of the walker's grasp, Lee kicked the pet-door with all his might, but the walker still clung to him like glue. Not willing to give up, Lee slammed his boot against the door again, feeling the walker's grip loosen slightly. After a third solid kick, Lee bore his teeth with determination, and pushed as hard as he could, breaking free of the walker's undead fingers, inadvertently severing the walker's entire hand in the process.

Climbing to his feet, adrenaline still coursing through his blood from his close-encounter, Lee turned back towards the front doors, where he noticed Ben, Christa, Omid, and Kenny struggling to shut the double-doors, which had several undead hands reaching in between them. This, unfortunately, prevented any further progress, leaving them with the difficult job of keeping the crowd of walkers from barging in. "Lee, HELP!" Kenny hollered in his southern accent, fear in his eyes, baring his teeth with resolve as he pressed his hands against the double doors,

"Cut their fucking arms off!" Christa shouted, struggling to withstand the weight of dozens of walkers pressing against the door. Her teeth were gritted from effort as she spoke, and her tone was a frightful one.

"There's gotta be a knife or something in there!" Omid yelled hopefully, his voice strained with effort as he worked to keep the dead from spilling into the mansion.

"HURRY!" Christa pleaded. Hearing this, Lee darted into the kitchen, and looked around, wondering where these people would place a knife. 'Where the fuck could it be?' Lee thought worriedly, his eyes scanning the counters. He instinctively opened a short, wide shelf, and was lucky enough to find a gleaming meat cleaver.

Giving it a brief once-over, he ran towards the front doors and severed a walker's writhing arm as it blindly struggled to reach its prey, blood mist spraying onto his face and upper torso. Not bothering to wipe it off, he noticed another arm slightly below it, and he promptly sliced at it, the detached appendage making a slapping sound as it hit the floor. Not seeing any other arms, he was puzzled as to how the door was still not able to close. After his third time scanning the doors, he finally noticed an isolated group of fingers protruding through the crack, which he made quick work of with his cleaver.

With much strain and several grunts of effort, the group was now able to shut the double-doors, temporarily preventing an influx of the dead. They looked around, assessing the precarious situation that they were caught up in. Sweat pouring down his temple, Omid asked the question everyone was thinking, "Now what?

The mansion looked secure, and its foundation seemed fairly sturdy, but Lee doubted that it would withstand a herd of this magnitude. "Get ready to fight." He uttered, tightly clutching his bloody knife with grit.

Christa, on the other hand, was more optimistic. "This place seems sturdy to me. I think we're fine." However, the seemingly 'sturdy' mansion quickly descended into chaos as the army of corpses began to crawl inside via the windows; the bottlenecked horde assaulting the back door were also able to succeed, toppling it with a ravenous hunger.

"Sturdy my ass!" Lee declared, "Get upstairs!" Kenny, Christa, and Ben quickly heeded this order, and started sprinting up the stairway two-steps at a time. Omid decided to linger behind to shoot at the approaching walkers, launching well-placed bullets into corpse after corpse. Lee raised his newfound cleaver as a walker approached. It was…Brie. How she got from Crawford to the mansion so quickly, he did not know. All he did know was that the creature that was once a friendly, helpful woman stumbled towards him, her arms slothfully reaching for her prey. Lee quickly put the woman to rest with a quick slash to the head. 'Rest in peace,' He thought sadly.

Lee noticed Omid bolt up the stairs, and after noticing the vast legion of the dead pouring into the foyer, he quickly followed in suit. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the front doors come clean off their hinges, toppling to the floor; the herd now had yet another entry point, causing the foyer to be inundated by yet another wave of the undead.

Adrenaline running through his blood, Lee ran up the steps like a jackrabbit, reaching the second floor in a matter of seconds, his eyes focused on the approaching horde. Hearing a grunt of exertion, Lee spun on his heel, eying Kenny relentlessly pushing a desk, presumably to use as a makeshift barricade. "Guys, help me with this!" Kenny demanded. Lee didn't argue, and began to help shove the wooden desk over to a side hallway. While the desk would definitely impede the walkers' process, Lee knew that there was no way that it would keep them at bay forever. "This'll slow'em down. We get to the end of the hallway…and take a fucking stand!" Kenny hollered valiantly.

"We can't let ourselves get trapped." Lee stated, his heart thumping harder and faster at the thought of it, recognizing the likelihood of his imminent death.

"Let's get as many as we can, and when we see an opening, we go for it. " Kenny suggested. To Lee, this was far from a good plan. In fact, it would likely fail. But no one else, including Lee, had any other ideas, so he decided to stick with Kenny's plan. "How many bullets do y'all have?" Kenny inquired.

"Three." Christa answered.

"Five." Lee uttered.

"Four." Omid declared.

"Two." Ben said nervously.

"Y'all know where to aim." Kenny said, as he turned his attention towards the desk in front of him. After several seconds, a lone walker made its way into their line of sight. Taking a deep breath, Lee instinctively pointed the gun at its head and pulled the trigger; the bullet flew through the air, hitting the walker directly in the forehead, piercing its frontal lobe. It was almost as if the single gunshot provoked them, because it was at that moment that horde began to converge on the group. The small group of five raised their guns and began to shoot them down, one by one. However, the walkers were being replaced as quickly as they were being killed, and their already limited supply of ammunition was not.

"I'm out!" Christa said, a look of terror appearing on her face, desperately pulling the trigger of her empty firearm.

"Me too." Kenny replied, looking wide-eyed at the encroaching horde, at a loss for ideas.

"Fuck, where do we go?" Omid asked, looking around for a potential escape route, not yet willing to accept his fate.

"There's no goddamn opening!" Kenny worriedly proclaimed, as walkers began to slither over the desk.

Suddenly, Christa's face brightened, seemingly having found an escape route. "Up!" She shouted, pointing at the entrance to the attic, which was folded up, ready to be opened at a moment's notice.

Having been there himself a few days ago, Lee instantly realized what she was talking about. Not wasting any time, Lee grabbed the string and tugged, allowing the wooden ladder to unfold. "GO!" He commanded, anxious to be out of harm's way. One-by-one, the group climbed the ladder. Lee hastily began to climb, but he accidentally dropped Carley's old handgun, a Glock-17. He was sad to lose it, as it was his last memento of her, but he knew that he needed to put his life first, and bolted up the ladder. Eying the approaching undead army, Ben followed in suit, and upon his entrance, Lee lifted the attic ladder, sealing them inside. The walking dead below them desperately clawed at the air, but they were now separated from their victims the attic floor.

Ignoring the frightening groans beneath him, Ben approached Lee, with a gun in his hand, and gave it to Lee. "Here, umm…I'm not good with these. You dropped it down there." Lee graciously took the gun, and holstered it in his waistband. 'I guess this isn't goodbye.' Lee thought, happy to have a memento of the former reporter.

"That could've gone better." Kenny murmured, stating the obvious. Lee had to bite his tongue to stop himself from saying, "No, really?"

"Everyone okay?" Christa inquired, looking around at the rest of the group to ensure their health. While no one gave her the luxury of a response, she seemed to relax once she was sure that nobody was injured.

"Lee's still bitten." Kenny proclaimed, reminding Lee of the fact that at the moment, he might be a ticking time bomb, just waiting to go off. This, of course, was something that Lee did not want to be reminded of, especially when they had bigger problems on their hands.

Apparently, Christa felt the same way about the situation. "Shut up." She angrily retorted, her eyes narrowing as she gazed at the pessimistic Kenny.

"Okay, let's get out of here and keep movin'." Omid stated optimistically, his eyes taking several seconds to scan the room for a potential exit, finally resting on a window on the opposite side of the room, which he promptly approached for a proper inspection.

Kenny nodded in approval. "Kid's right, we gotta get moving. Think there's any chance we can get Clem and catch up to those goddamn thieves?" Kenny wondered hopefully, staring at Lee for an answer.

"I don't know. Maybe." Lee answered. Despite the words that had escaped his mouth Lee knew that despite all their efforts to fix it, the boat was long gone. Clementine, however, was (hopefully) still attainable, and Lee would do everything in his power to get her back.

"Well we're not going out through this window." Omid interjected, approaching the rest of the group. "No latches, no roof access, and thirty feet straight down."

"Anyone got any ideas?" Kenny asked expectantly, looking from person to person in hopes that someone would come up with an ingenious plan.

Omid sauntered up to a bust of a man, presumably an ancestor of the manor's residents. Kneeling down to take a closer look, Omid joked, "I bet this guy would. He's got a resourceful air about him."

"Knock it off Omid." Christa begged, vexed by the current situation.

Omid squinted his eyes, enabling him to read the fading text on the base of the bust. "Dixon Kent the Third, industrial…" Omid continued, seemingly ignoring Christa as he plowed on with his joking speech.

"OMID!" Christa interrupted, having reached her breaking point.

"CHRISTA. I'm just trying to lighten the fucking tone." Omid retorted, getting back to his feet as he glared at his girlfriend, who was glaring back as she towered over him.

"We need solutions, not stupid jokes!" Christa yelled, her arms crossed in anger. After a brief moment, she said, "I'm sorry." feeling slightly ashamed.

"There's gotta be another way." Lee insisted, wiping his sweaty brow. Blood loss from the earlier amputation was taking its toll on him. He just hoped that it wouldn't finish him off.

"Check the floor for any other access." Christa added. "A vent, anything." Lee doubted that there would be anything, but he knew that he needed to find something, anything.

"Or we wait for the house to clear out and stick to the high ground." Kenny argued. Lee felt like rolling his eyes after hearing that comment. All the walkers were located upstairs, directly below them. It would probably be days before the story below them was cleared, let alone the entire house, especially when considering the sheer magnitude of the herd.

Lee began to cough, and wiped his forehead once more. He didn't feel great, but he needed to push through it. Christa noted this, checked his temperature, and remarked, "Hey. You're not looking great. And you're warm."

Lee backed away from his friend, sweat trickling down his forehead, a fiery sensation overwhelming him as his fever seemed to spike. Lee began to speak, but he started to feel tipsy, staggering backwards, his mind going out of focus. He managed to say, "I'm okay. Don't…", but a state of extreme dizziness overcame him, preventing him from finishing his sentence.

Suddenly, another voice fizzled into existence, one that Lee knew all too well. "Lee, Lee, Lee, I'm okay." Clementine uttered, her voice echoing through the attic. Lee was finally able to break free of his dizzy, feverish state and hear Clementine state, "I'm where my parents…oh no!" Lee raised the radio to his mouth as fast as he could, but as soon as he pressed the device to his lips, the little girl's voice at the other end faded into static.

Christa stared wide-eyed at the device in Lee's hand. "What does that mean?" Christa inquired,

"She's at the hotel, where her parents were staying; he hasn't moved her." Lee responded. He began to feel more confident. Lee now had a destination in mind, which was more than he had for the past few hours. However, they still faced one crucial problem: they were still trapped in attic with no way out.

"Yet." Kenny pessimistically reminded him.

"Yeah." Christa agreed. "Yet."

Lee began to look around the room. "We have to start thinking about more than just Clementine when it comes to our…urgency." Kenny uttered. Lee thought that he was referring to the fact that they were stuck in the attic, but he reconsidered when he noticed Kenny's eyes resting on his stump of an arm, which was covered in a bandage that had turned completely crimson.

"What do you mean?" Omid asked, worriedly looking at the imposing redneck before him.

"How do we get out of here?" Kenny inquired, looking at everyone around the room, hoping that someone would have an answer. Lee racked his brains, but he no answer escaped his lips. He was out of ideas.

Omid replied, "That's the whole point; we don't know."

Kenny then repeated the question, saying, "Okay, now your life depends on it. How do you get out of here?"

"I don't know. I don't get it." Omid told him firmly, giving Kenny a shrug, which indicated his cluelessness.

"Stop it." Lee ordered. "We can't panic." His voice, usually calm and reassuring, was still commanding, yet it seemed to have a slightly panicked undertone, which was quite ironic. It didn't seem like anyone else had heard it, so he decided to forget about it and focus on Kenny, who was continuing his rant.

Kenny looked back down at what was left of Lee's left arm. "Do you think that worked?" Kenny said, gesturing towards his stump.

"I don't know. I hope so." Lee responded, also curious as to what was in store for himself.

"I think we need to have… an 'adult' conversation. About what happens if Lee takes another spill. Kenny stated ominously, pacing back and forth across the room.

"Hey, look…" Omid interjected, his eyes nervously flitting between Kenny and Lee, as if he were watching a two feral cats circle each other in an alleyway.

Despite this interruption, Kenny continued and said, "We could be lookin' at a Larry situation here." Lee couldn't believe Kenny. He had actually brought up the meat-locker incident, and…was he threatening to…this filled Lee with fury, causing him to clench his fist so tightly that he drew blood, which soaked into and under his fingernails.

"Who's Larry?" Christa asked the men. When Lee remained silent, Christa uttered, "GUYS. I don't know what happened before Omid and I showed up, but we can cross this bridge when we get to it." The situation in front of her seemed to be making her nervous, and rightfully so. Putting two angry men in the same room, especially when one was provoking the other…it would be like locking two irate bulls inside a red room.

"Lee, I'm not advocating anything here… but how is this not a thing? We're all so worked up about Clementine that we're forgetting what the fuck happened to you!" Kenny ranted. Kenny was making Lee's blood boil at this point. Clementine was the priority, NOT his goddamn arm.

"My arm is not the issue! I'm not the problem! The five-hundred walkers in the house, and no door in this room are the goddamn problem!" Lee retorted, growing angrier and angrier by the second.

"Yeah, maybe at the moment." Kenny replied, still pacing across the room. "But who's to say when it becomes an issue? At that point, there may not be any time left to deal with it!" At this point, Kenny had slowed down to a halt, and he sauntered up to Lee until they were face-to-face. "You're gonna listen to me! We will get Clementine back, with or without you! Because I haven't given up everything to die, because we were stupid!" Kenny angrily yelled, his mustache twitching in fury as spit flew from his lips in anger.

"Then kill me you son of a bitch okay, don't even fucking hesitate!" Lee shouted, his eyes narrowing in a fit of fury.

"I WILL." Kenny retorted. Kenny had somehow pushed Lee past the breaking point, which hadn't happened since...he didn't want to think about it. Lee grabbed a nearby bust off of a short wooden pedestal, the one that Omid had previously approached, and vented out his anger by throwing it as hard as he could into the wooden wall. To everyone's surprise, the statue plowed through the wooden wall, creating a small hole.

Everyone began to stare in awe at the hole, before Omid awkwardly broke the silence and exclaimed, "You ruined that dude's face."

"Shut up sweetie. Look." Christa responded, pointing at the jagged hole in the wood.

Kenny walked over to the hole, and pulled at the wood for a few seconds until it broke off. "It's corroded to hell." Kenny said in awe, filling Lee with a newfound hope.

"What's on the other side of this wall, a thirty-foot drop?" Christa asked, looking intently at the small hole, her arms crossed.

"No, this mansion butts up against the one next door." Omid informed her, glancing once more at the gap in the wall.

To answer their questions, Lee grabbed a hefty coat rack to his right, and proceeded to smash it against the wall, causing dust to rise into the air as the wood was chipped away. "This wall ain't shit." Lee stated excitedly.

"Is this really possible…?" Omid inquired.

Kenny walked over to the coat rack, picked it up, and began to slam it against the wooden wall, filling the room with another wave of dust. "Yeah, we can do this. We'll work in shifts. Omid, Christa, and I. Lee, you rest. We have to work fast."

Omid and Christa approached an old couch on the opposite side of the room as Kenny continued to slam the coat rack against the wall. Lee lingered behind for several seconds, awkwardly shifting his weight as he stared at Kenny. "I'm sorry." Lee muttered, feeling a mixture of shame and guilt.

Kenny somberly replied, "Me too. I get it. Go sit down." Lee consented to his command as Kenny continued to batter the nearby wall.

_**A/N: So that was Chapter One! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Like I said, this chapter was mostly just normal events of "No Time Left", only this time, Ben never had his outburst in the yard, which may lead to some changes down the line. I promise you, later chapters will have more original storylines, and it won't just be the normal canon events that occur. Thanks for reading, please review, and see you next time.**_

_**-ZombieSlayer995**_


	2. The Fall That Changed Fates

_**Hey folks, this is ZombieSlayer995. I cannot believe that after only one chapter, this story has been reviewed twice, received one favorite, and received four follows. Now, I would like to make some shout-outs to some people.**_

_**Micidonalboss, 20**__**: You two were the first two to review this story, and you have been interested in it since I first revealed the idea in my former "Ideas" fanfic. Thank you, and I hope that you two stick with this story until the end.**_

_**Kk-chan:**__** Thank you for being the first to favorite this story, I really hope that you enjoy this chapter.**_

_**The 8000**__**th**__** Salad Plate:**__** You were the first to follow this story, and for that, I thank you.**_

_**If anyone has any questions or comments, put them in a review, and I will reply/respond in a mass author's note in the following chapter. This chapter will see more changes to the storyline. Enjoy!**_

_**Fun Fact: This chapter's title was a title idea for the story suggested by many people.**_

**Lee's POV**

Lee slowly began to approach an old chair, which lay across from a dusty sofa. Omid and Christa were sitting on said couch, staring intently at Lee. "I'm glad you told us when you got bitten. It would have been easy not to." Christa told him, seemingly admiring his spirit.

"Yeah, well…" Lee replied, trailing off into thought, primarily about Clementine, death, and the future, or probable lack thereof.

"We probably would have let you go alone if you hadn't told us…" Christa remarked, "Which would have been a mistake." This made Lee remember when he had first got bit. His first instinct _was_ to hide it from the group, for fear that they might kill him on the spot, but he knew that he needed to tell everyone. They had the right to know. He did not regret that decision, but he was beginning to regret amputating his arm, especially when he didn't even know if it would work.

"If I were you, I would've been scared shitless." Omid admitted, staring at the space that Lee's lower arm had formerly occupied.

The conversation was getting fairly depressing. Lee now appreciated Omid's light-hearted joking. It helped to lighten the tone and keep people from panicking. "If you were me, you'd be a foot taller." Lee cracked with a smile. "And about fifty pounds heavier. You uh…wouldn't get scared as much." In actuality, Lee was indeed 'scared shitless' when he was bit. He remembered how horrified he was when he was first bitten, and the unimaginable panic that had nearly overwhelmed him. The only thing that was keeping him focused was the mission: save Clementine.

"Hey!" Omid protested, albeit with a grin on his face. "With your arm, and my leg, I'll cripple fight you right here buddy.

"I've still got this one." Lee replied, waving his one remaining arm I'll put my right arm on your forehead and let you swing away." Lee grinned. This light-hearted banter between the two had helped to ease the feeling of depression that had been weighing on Lee since he had first gotten bit.

"Heh, fine. You win, jerk." Omid muttered, feeling beaten, but amused by the whole conversation.

They sat there for a while without talking, with the silence only being broken by grunts of exertion emitted by Kenny, followed by a loud smashing noise. "It's so weird. I keep doing a double-take on your arm, expecting it to be there." Christa admitted, slightly freaked out by her friend's missing limb. In all honesty, Lee could not blame her. If she had been the one with a missing limb, he would admittedly be slightly freaked out by the amputation.

"I'm hoping whatever's in that bite is gone too." Lee responded hopefully. Despite the amputation, Lee didn't know if he would live. He could bleed out, or the infection could have circulated to the rest of the body prior to the amputation. He wasn't sure, but he needed to stay optimistic, otherwise he would never find Clementine.

"What do you think the odds are of that?" Christa inquired curiously, as she herself did not know whether it would work either.

"I don't know." Lee sadly admitted. "I know everyone's wondering. Even if it just slows down the process, I'd be happy." He needed to survive, at least until he found and rescued Clementine from…whomever it was on the radio. After that, he'd be…content, and he while he would not want to die, he would be ready to face his fate. At least Clementine would be rescued, and that would be the only thing that mattered.

"You don't mean that." Christa exclaimed, trying to stay slightly optimistic, not just for Lee's sake, but for her sake and Clementine's as well. Christa had grown fond of the man during their time together, and Clementine…well, Lee was all that Clementine had left, assuming that her parents had been killed.

So when we get this guy…what do you think?" Omid asked curiously. It seemed that Omid was wondering if Lee was the forgiving type, and whether he would merely forgive the man after he rescued Clementine. However, the answer that Lee had in mind was the complete opposite.

"We make sure he never takes anybody from anyone again." Lee answered ominously. "The world's got enough evil in it." Lee met Omid's eyes, and

"And…you know…whatever happens to you…uh…" Omid began somberly. Lee knew what Omid was getting at, and he knew it needed to be discussed, and soon too.

Apparently, Christa didn't feel the same way, because she turned to her boyfriend. "Seriously, can we not talk about that?" Christa asked him, not wanting to discuss the death of a friend. Lee looked up at her, and Christa told him, "That entire time we were at the hospital, I could sense you think you were as good as dead."

"I was bitten, Christa." Lee reminded his friend, trying to prove a point. He needed to make preparations, a will of sorts, just in case he met his demise.

"You cut it off." Christa countered, hoping that Lee would be more optimistic about the situation at hand. Lee knew that there was always the chance that the amputation was a success, but he recognized that his death was the more likely outcome.

"What good is it to plan around that working?" Lee asked her, voicing his own concerns, and apparently not buying into her positive look on the situation.

"What good is it to give up?" Christa inquired. So far, her words of optimism were not helping Lee in any way, shape, or form.

"I haven't given up." Lee assured her. He then looked at Kenny, looked at the couple, and said, "I want you guys to take her." Lee knew that if he didn't make it, then the two people who he would want taking care of his little girl were the two people right in front of him. They were kind, determined, and they both cared for Clementine.

"Stop it." Christa pleaded, a sad look in her eye, not wanting to accept the fate of her friend.

"I'm serious. She'd be safe, and relatively happy with you two." Lee replied, trying to get Christa to see sense. Lee needed to get through her optimistic standpoint, and get her to accept the reality that he would soon be dead.

Christa tried to shrug off his words, but Omid interjected, "Christa, listen to him." Omid then looked at Ben, who was sitting on the floor a few yards away, seemingly uninterested in the events unfolding around him. "What about him?" Omid asked, looking at the teenager.

Lee somberly replied, "He'll either get his act together, or something'll happen to him." He didn't want to give the kid a death sentence, but deep down, he knew that what he said was the truth.

"That's it?" Christa asked, not wanting to see another person dead.

"What else is there to say?" Lee asked the tall woman, who was seemingly at a loss for words.

A few seconds later, the incessant banging ceased, and Kenny stumbled over to the trio, his muscles aching. "Alright, I'm out of gas." Kenny said, panting from the effort. "You look good and rested." The Floridian man told Omid, wiping his sweaty forehead as he gazed down at his short friend.

"Sure, if you don't count an infected leg." He jokingly reminded Kenny. Truth be told, Omid seemed to be feeling much better after Vernon fixed him up with some meds that they had taken from Crawford.

"You want me to do it?" Christa asked him kindly, not wanting her boyfriend to exert himself this soon after his leg was fixed.

"Nah hon', you can hop in after me." Omid lovingly told his girlfriend, as he walked over to the wall, grabbed the coat rack, and proceeded to batter the wall with it, coughing every few seconds due to intakes of sawdust from the wall.

Kenny took Omid's place on the sofa, and said, "Shouldn't be long now. It's good we're forced to take a breath. " Lee groaned in pain, and looked at his stump of a left arm. Kenny stared at it too and inquired, "That feelin' any better?"

Truth be told, his arm hurt more than anything he had ever felt, even more than the time when his leg got injured during the early days. However, he took a deep breath and replied, "I can handle it; the pain, that is. I'm just really goddamn tired.

Kenny shook his head and asked, "I mean, do you think it worked? Did it…did it help at all?" Kenny hoped that the man would say something reassuring. Despite their differences, the two men considered each other close friends.

Sadly, Lee shook his head and responded, "I feel like a man who got bitten. So take that for what it's worth."

"I still can't believe you went around and got chomped. Just…fucking hell." Kenny murmured, apparently shocked by the fact that the man he had traveled with since Hershel's farm was dying before his very eyes.

"At least he told us." Christa remarked, grateful that Lee had done them that small service.

"It took some brass. I wouldn't have done it." Kenny shamefully admitted. Kenny put his head in his hands, his face taking on a depressed expression. Lee felt sympathy for Floridian man. Despite losing his family, he had kept pushing on, a trait that Lee found rather admirable.

"How are you?" Christa asked, looking at Kenny with a concerned demeanor.

"I'm…I don't know how to answer that." Kenny muttered sadly, no doubt remembering his deceased family. Katjaa and Duck were both good people, and in Lee's eyes, they did not deserve to die in the ways that they did.

"I'm sorry. You've lost more than any of us." Christa told him sympathetically, most likely recounting what Lee had told her about Kenny on the overpass where they first met.

"It'll be alright, Ken." Lee reassured him, hoping that it would provide Kenny with some sort of comfort.

Kenny looked up, and glanced at Christa. "Why are you acting like what's happened didn't happen." After no response, he said, "Anyway, I appreciate it from both of you."

Lee craned his neck to the left, and he eyed Ben, who was sitting alone on the floor, his elbows resting on his knees, his gaze on the floor. "You know, I'm sure Ben's lost family too." Lee stated, noticing how depressed the teen seemed to be. "Maybe you should cut him some slack."

Kenny didn't scream like Lee expected him to, but he turned around and stared daggers at the teenager. "I will never forgive that shitbird for what he's done." Kenny exclaimed angrily. "I've been doing my best not to shoot that fucker in the goddamn head since we left Crawford, and there ain't no way that's gonna change. Not after Duck and Katjaa." Lee wanted to protest, but he knew that Kenny was too stubborn to ever change his opinion of Ben, or anything, for that matter.

Lee saw Kenny reach over the arm of the sofa, and pull an unopened bottle of liquor out of a cardboard box. "This guy ever tell you much about what we've been through?" Kenny asked Christa while simultaneously popping the cork off of the bottle.

"Bits and pieces." Christa answered. Lee had told Christa a little back at the overpass, but that was really it. Other than knowing that Kenny had lost his family to walkers and depression, Christa had no background knowledge on her companions.

Kenny then went on to describe some of the past events that the group endured, particularly about Lilly and Larry. "Before y'all we had this woman, Lilly, with us. Lord knows where she is now." Kenny said, bitterly remembering Lilly hijacking the RV. "Anyway, we had to…make some tough calls with her dad. She came between Lee and I pretty good, and I spent a lot of nights hating this guy's guts." He said, gesturing at Lee. Truth be told, Lee had felt the same way about Kenny for quite some time, particularly after the incident at the meat locker. Now, though, Lee felt no anger when he gazed upon the Floridian's face; time had sealed those wounds.

"It's all water under the bridge." Lee said in a forgiving manner. "All we can do is move forward."

"Well…cheers." Kenny muttered half-heartedly, before taking a long swig of the liquor, wiping his wet lips before offering the bottle to Lee. Lee instantly accepted the bottle, not able to remember the last time he had alcohol, nor the time when he needed it this much. As he sipped, a burning sensation embodied his mouth, but it tasted rather sweet. Swallowing the mouthful of fiery liquor, he handed the bottle back to Kenny, who took another brief sip.

After the bottle parted from his lips, Kenny turned to his right, offering the bottle to Christa. Christa looked at the bottle for a good few seconds, before she looked at her stomach, widened her eyes, terrified, and forcefully snatched the bottle from Kenny's grasp, chugging the drink for a good five seconds before she handed the bottle back to Kenny, taking a deep breath. Lee could tell that something was up with Christa. The vomiting, the terror with which she observed her stomach, they all pointed to one sole explanation. No, surely she wasn't…

"I'm through!" Omid interjected, breaking Lee's train of thought, and dropped the coat rack to the attic floor, the banging noise echoing throughout the attic. Lee approached the now gaping hole in the wall, coughing sawdust out of his lungs.

Omid crouched, peering through the gap in the wall, spying a bedroom through it. "No walkers. Things are looking up." Omid declared. One by one, the group slowly dropped through the jagged wooden wall into the other house.

Omid jumped through the hole first, plunging about four feet before landing in the bedroom. Christa quickly followed in suit, holding Omid's hand as she dropped into the room. She was then followed by Lee, Kenny, and Ben, who Kenny was still glaring at. Lee understood Kenny's vendetta, but he could not understand why he couldn't just move on, considering the fact that Ben hadn't meant to do anything. Of course, Lee doubted that he would forgive him if Clementine been bitten rather than Duck, but he was not entirely sure.

"Keep a goddamn eye out." Kenny warned the group, who were scanning the area for potential threats.

Concluding that they were safe, Christa stated, "This place seems secure at least." "Well…" She trailed off, her eyes wandering to the bed situated in the center of a room. On the bed lay a pair of bodies. Their hands were interlocked, and each of them had a bullet hole in their foreheads, their dried blood splattered across the bed; the gun still lay in the husband's hand, his finger still clutching the trigger. There was no doubt about it; it had been a suicide.

Omid put his arm around Christa as they stared at the deceased couple. Lee looked on the scene in sadness, his gaze meeting the floor. Ever since he was old enough to understand the concept of death, Lee could not comprehend why people would choose 'the easy way out' unless they were facing a painful and imminent death, although he could sympathize with them. He knew what it was like to lose everything. Following his murder of the State Senator, Lee felt empty, broken. At the time, his wife had meant everything to him. In committing that atrocity, he had lost her. He didn't know what would have happened to him if he hadn't found Clementine, who had not only filled the hole that his wife had left behind, but had caused it to overflow. Clementine was Lee's world, and he would do anything to protect her.

The room grew very silent for quite some time, but Kenny picked up the gun in the man's hand, murmuring, "Gotta at least have one shot left." Upon extracting the magazine from the pistol, he was lucky enough to find a single bullet housed there, ready to be fired at a moment's notice. This was good, considering the fact that their limited stockpile of ammunition had been wasted on the herd back at the manor.

They began to search the room for anything useful. Lee wandered over to a wooden dresser, and scanned the contents within. Sadly, he discovered nothing but clothes. He noticed Ben inspecting a nightstand as he strolled over to a door on the far side of the room, which led to a small metal balcony.

Christa took one last sad glance at the pair of bodies lying on the bed bodies before joining Lee at the entrance to the small metal balcony. "Nothing other than personal items in here." She muttered, stepping over a broken picture frame, whose photograph had been punctured in several places by sharp shards of glass. Upon hearing this, Lee became slightly downtrodden. He had hoped that they could partially compensate for all their supplies lost to the herd, but he didn't let it show on his face.

Kenny, Omid, and Ben joined the duo, casually wandering over to the balcony. Kenny pushed past Lee and Christa, and took notice of the balcony and the nearby building, seemingly formulating a plan. Craning his neck, Kenny said, "Looks like we can stay off the streets all the way to River Street if we're careful." Kenny backed up and gestured to the balcony, patiently waiting his turn.

With that, Lee climbed onto the balcony railing, and jumped onto the roof of the nearby building, his chest making contact with the gravelly surface. Due to his handicap, it was difficult to pull himself upright, but Lee refused to let his condition beat him. Grunting with strain, Lee was able to pull himself completely onto the roof before getting to his feet, breathing heavily from effort, but feeling some sort of pride. He had been able to do it, despite his permanent condition.

Omid followed his lead, leaping off of the balcony railing and onto the adjacent rooftop. Omid was injured, but not to the extent as Lee was, allowing him to get up and to his feet much more rapidly than Lee had. Lee sighed. He had always taken his body for granted, and now that his left arm was gone, he seriously missed it.

Taking a deep breath, Christa jumped the gap next, with Omid helping her up and to her feet. Kenny was the next in line, preparing to jump to the neighboring establishment. Kenny backed up before taking a running leap, grabbing onto the rooftop with ease. As he jumped, Lee thought he saw the balcony wobble ever so slightly, but he dismissed it as nothing more than a trick of the light.

Lastly, Ben clambered up onto the balcony railing, and backed up until his back was pressed against the exterior of the building, seemingly intending to make a running jump. Nervously looking at the ground below, the teenager seemed primed to jump, but the balcony let out a very audible creaking noise, and Ben only had the time to gaze at Lee in terror before the balcony came crashing down, with Ben still on it. "BEN!" Lee shouted in desperation, but his protests did nothing as Ben plummeted into the alleyway below, writhing through the air like a snake.

Ben screamed as he fell, painfully colliding with the asphalt below. Lee peered over the edge of the roof, and noticed Ben's motionless body on the ground, which was littered with debris. He tried to open his mouth, but he was left speechless by the events that had unfolded. "Oh fuck! What are we gonna do?" Omid asked, who was also gazing down at Ben in astonishment.

Kenny made his opinion clear, "We leave that shitbird to rot." Lee gazed at Kenny, horrified by the fact that he even considered that.

"Kenny, he's just a fucking kid. You're just gonna leave him there?" Lee asked, appalled by Kenny's remark.

"He deserves it Lee. It's because of him that Katjaa and Duck died! He is the sole reason that my family is dead! HE TOOK MY FUCKING WORLD AWAY FROM ME!" Kenny yelled, his eyes tearing up.

Lee was disgusted with Kenny. He understood why Kenny was angry, but Lee could not get behind the idea of leaving Ben, a mere teenager, to painfully die in an alleyway. "Fine." Lee said. "I'll go." With that, Lee angrily snatched the gun out of Kenny's hand, and walked over to the ladder. As he prepared to descend into the alleyway, he hesitated, and handed Christa Clementine's hat and walkie-talkie. "If things go south down there, you guys are Clementine's last hope. Stay here, and if I don't make it, you find that fucker who took her. Understand?" Christa met his eyes for several seconds before she reluctantly nodded as Lee made his way down the metal ladder into the alley.

As Lee clambered down the ladder, his heart began to pump faster and faster. Several thoughts were running through his head, but he kept going back to the same question: was Ben still alive? Ben hadn't fallen from a fatal height, but there was always the possibility that he hit his head while landing, or that most of his bones had been fractured. If the latter of which was the case, then he would possibly have to mercy kill him. Putting that thought aside, Lee's feet touched the asphalt surface of the alleyway. As he scanned the area for immediate threats, he noticed a small door into a nearby building. Loud growls and banging noises were emanating from the door, but he elected to ignore it in the face of more pressing matters. Emerging into the alleyway, Lee heard a weak, "Over here!". Following the voice to its source, Lee quickly saw Ben, who was lying under a pile of debris on the concrete.

Blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth, and Ben was moaning in pain, the latter of which was to be expected, but Lee didn't want to attract the walkers that almost surely roamed the surrounding streets. "Shh! Quiet, Ben, or they'll be on top of us!" Lee warned, his eyes nervously darting towards the alleyway entrances.

"Okay, just get me up. My legs hurt…I think." Ben stuttered. Lee began to remove the debris around Ben, shoving various miscellanea aside with the intent to carry the kid back if need be. However, his diligent work came to a halt upon finally being able to see Ben's chest. Lee opened his mouth in disbelief, gazing sadly at Ben's stomach. Ben had landed on the railing of the balcony, which had gone straight through his gut. Closing his eyes, Lee faced the sad truth: Ben was going to die. "What is it?" Ben asked, still oblivious to the fact that he had a metal rod protruding through his abdomen. Lee assumed this was due to shock, but he wasn't a doctor; he couldn't be sure.

Despite the inevitable death sentence, Lee knew he had to try his hardest. He began to pull Ben off of the railing, but upon doing so, he heard a sickening, squishy sound, which was immediately followed by agonized screams, which were involuntarily escaping Ben's mouth.

At this, Lee let go, and Ben finally noticed his injury. Craning his neck until he was in an almost upright position, Ben gripped the railing in his hand, glaring at it with contempt. "Ben, you need to stay quiet. If you do, I can take my time, and save you."

"Yeah, I can be super quiet." Ben eagerly nodded, although he sounded unsure. Suddenly, the most unwelcome sound possible rang through Lee's eardrums. 'Oh, no.' Lee thought, instantly recognizing the unpleasant sound. Craning his head to both sides, Lee's eyes confirmed the sound. Several walkers from both sides of the alleyway had been drawn to Ben's agonized screams of pain, and were slowly stumbling into the alley. Lee tried to yank him off once more, only for Ben to scream, "FUUUCK!" He looked at the walkers, his eyes as wide as quarters, before turning to Lee, and begging, "Oh god, don't let them get to me!"

At this point, Lee knew there was no saving him. Ben was going to die. A feeling of depression sinking into him, Lee aimed, muttered, "Goodbye," and pulled the trigger, watching as the bullet powered through Ben's skull.

Ben Paul was dead. The gunshot had gone clean through his forehead, splattering blood and brain matter across the asphalt. Despite this, Ben's eyes were closed in a peaceful manner, as if he was not dead, merely asleep.

Looking at scores of walkers approaching from both sides, Lee began to sprint towards the ladder, intending to use it as his escape route. He had just reached the gate that led to the ladder when he noticed that the door he had seen earlier had given way, and that dozens of walkers were streaming through it. His one return route was blocked. Fear clouding his mind, adrenaline began to pump through his blood. "OH, SHIT!" Lee shouted, instinctively closing and locking the gate.

While one horde was still dealt with, there were still two more swarms of corpses, one approaching from each side. Lee had no idea how he would escape from his current predicament. He was surrounded by the undead, and with no visible escape route, he was seemingly trapped.

A horrifying and sickening sound suddenly made itself known. Lee turned towards it and gazed upon a macabre sight. The walkers had converged into the alleyway faster than Lee had realized, and they had started to feed on Ben's corpse. Suddenly, as if a light bulb had been flicked on, Lee had an idea.

As several of the walkers continued to feed on Ben, they did not notice Lee quietly sliding past them. The horde from the other side also joined the feeding frenzy, targeting the easier, immobile prey rather than the more difficult human who skirted past them.

But Lee wasn't out of the woods just yet.

A rather large section of the horde had not yet reached Ben, and began moving towards him with an innate sense of hunger. The closest walker, a tall, muscular man dressed in his Sunday best, led the charge. Using all of his strength, Lee grabbed the walker's head in his palm and slammed it against the brick wall, its head exploding upon impact. Wiping the blood from his face, Lee managed to push through the remaining walkers and break into a sprint, running for his life.

_**A/N: And that, is how Lee gets separated from the group. I hope it seemed realistic enough. Ben never had his outburst, meaning that Kenny never felt any sympathy towards him, which would lead to Kenny hating Ben until his death, and not even bothering to help him. To answer some questions, yes, Lee will survive, for now at least. Now, how will Christa, Omid, and Kenny rescue Clementine? Stay tuned if you want to know the answer. If you are enjoying this story, or are intrigued by the concept, then please favorite or follow this fanfic. Also, feel free to ask me any questions you might have in a review, and I will answer them next chapter. BTW, sorry that this chapter was mostly canon events. I promise that later chapters will have altered or made-up events. Thanks for reading. Out.**_

_**-ZombieSlayer995**_


	3. The Marsh House

_**A/N: Hello everybody, ZombieSlayer995 here. Like I promised, I will now feature a mass author's note to answer questions/respond to comments. **_

_**Micdonalboss**__** and **__**guest(Guest)**__**: I'm not really sure what happened to Christa's baby but judging from Clementine saying "Not again," after AJ's presumed death in "No Going Back", so that led me to the assumption that the baby was born, but died somehow, whether to sickness or malnourishment or cold or walkers or whatever. You two gave me the idea to explore this in later chapters, which I most likely will in flashbacks later on.**_

_**The 8000**__**th**__** Salad Plate:**__** No problem! I feel I should give credit to notable writers who find and enjoy my fanfic. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**_

_**UltimateHoboChuc (Guest)**__**: I appreciate it man, and I hope that you enjoy the rest of the story. Stay tuned.**_

_**guest (Guest):**__** I have to agree with that statement. Lee was my favorite character from Season 1. If I had the choice to bring back a character, it would be Lee (or maybe Luke). As for the rest, you'll just have to wait and see.**_

_**dog (Guest):**__** You'll have to read and find out yourself. Sorry.**_

_**Anyway, before the story, I want to recommend a few of the best Walking Dead stories on the website, or maybe even some of the best fanfics overall.**_

_**A) The **__**Into the Fray**__** series, written by Thunderslate. This story, along with its sequels, follows the 400 Days characters after the events of "In Harm's Way".**_

_**B) The **__**No Going Back?**__** series, written by ZombieGuy96. This story has an unusual premise. After "Amid the Ruins", Clementine faces unimaginable hardship, before waking up in Howe's during the events of "In Harm's Way" with a second chance to set things right. This is possibly one of the most reviewed series' on the website, with the sequel having about 750 reviews.**_

_**C) **__**Walking Dead Season Three, **__**and **__**Walking Dead Season 4**__** written by TWDGamerKenny'sBro and Drexbann15. These stories follow Clementine after the "You are with Kenny and AJ" ending. Season 3 is on Drexbann's account, season 4 is on TWDGamerKenny'sBro's account.**_

_**D) **__**A New Day Gone Bye,**__** written by TheBigBadWolf1. This story is a crossover of the Walking Dead comics, TV series, and game, and is currently in development.**_

_**There are several other great fanfics that you can see in my profile, but now, here comes chapter 3, which is Improv (sort-of)!**_

**Kenny's POV**

Kenny was peering down into the alleyway, which was currently jam-packed with walkers. He scanned the alleyway yet again, but there was no sign of the one-armed history teacher anywhere. Guilt began to clog his gut. He felt no sadness over Ben's death, but Lee…Lee was his friend. He knew that the had argued over things, and that they hadn't always gotten along, but deep down, Kenny always thought of Lee as the man who helped his son at Hershel's farm and at the Drug Store, the man who constantly looked out for his family just as much as his own, the man who was now as dead as Katjaa and Duck. Kenny knew that if he had gone down into the alley with Lee, then he could have gotten out. But he didn't, which left Lee's blood on his hands; Lee's death was entirely his fault.

Christa looked up at Kenny with tears in her eyes, managing to utter, "…Lee…" before putting her head in her hands and moaning. "We…we should get going." She said.

Kenny managed to feebly nod, and he muttered a weak, "Y-yeah." The group then began to walk across the buildings that led to the Marsh House. With each step, a new surge of guilt and self-loathing overcame him. Why couldn't it have been him?

Despite his inner-guilt, Kenny kept on moving was now determined to honor the man's final wish: to find and kill the piece of shit that kidnapped Clementine. His body was now on autopilot, merely a walking shell as his mind lay elsewhere. He wondered how he would tell an eight-year old girl that he guardian was dead, if he even ended up telling her at all. Maybe he could say that he went to 'go look for his folks' or something, but he suspected that she would see right through that lie; despite her age, Clementine was not stupid.

Kenny was jolted back to reality when Christa asked, "Do you…want to talk about it?" Christa was still drying tears off of her face, but could probably tell that Kenny was in bad shape as well.

Kenny didn't see the point in hiding his feelings. "It's my fault, all my fault. If I had just gotten over my stupid-ass vendetta against the kid, then Lee would still be here." He replied in a monotonous, depressed voice, like the one he had used back when the two people alongside him were strangers.

"Kenny, stop. That's the survivor's guilt talking. You feel bad because you're here and they're not. There was no way you could have known what would happen down there. There's nothing you could have done." Christa reassured him, but Kenny didn't know whether or not to believe her. While Christa made a valid point, there WAS something Kenny could have done. He could have gone with Lee, and covered his ass as the walkers approached. But he didn't, which had insured Lee's painful demise; thinking about this caused a new wave of guilt to wash over him like a tsunami, drowning out all other thoughts.

Suddenly, Christa spoke up again. "Fuck. Be careful across here." Kenny wasn't entirely sure what she meant until he looked up, and saw a makeshift wooden bridge, which seemed to span the vast gap between the building that they were on and the next building across. It seemed to be going over a landfill of sorts, but nonetheless an area that was clearly infested with walkers. Omid went first, carefully treading the jury-rigged bridge as his eyes nervously flitted to the ground beneath him, which caused him to pause for a brief moment before deciding that he wanted to be off the bridge as soon as possible. Christa followed him, cautiously, yet calmly, spanning the gap between the buildings. Kenny went last, beginning to cross the river as soon as Christa had completely crossed, fighting the urge to look down for the entirety of the crossing.

After they all reached the other side, Omid told Kenny, "River Street's just up ahead." Before walking a few yards and jumping back in fright and shock. His eyes wide, Omid muttered, "Guys, careful.

As Kenny approached Omid, he quickly became aware of what had frightened him, and began to gaze downwards, morbidly transfixed by the sight.

The building they were standing on had a large square hole in the roof, presumably due to construction, along with scaffolding over by the building's edge. The building itself was swarming with dozens of walkers, who upon hearing the telltale sounds of prey, began to gaze up at the three survivors in interest. At that point, anger began to settle into his mind, blocking out his previous bouts of guilt and fear. These…abominations were the creatures that took his son, his friend, and God knows how many others. These were the monsters that led his wife to put a gun to her temple. He wanted to scream profanity at them. He wanted to grab the metal pole that lay among the scaffolding, jump down, and slaughter every one of them. Yet he knew that would likely lead to nothing more than an agonizing death like the one that Lee had suffered. The only thing that kept him focused and sane was the mission: saving Clementine.

The mission was what brought Kenny out of his angered state. Looking back up at Omid, he said, "This roof could cave in!" His anger was quickly being replaced with fear, his southern drawl laced with alarm.

Omid replied, "Yeah. Let's move. Fast." Omid scampered off of the building, clearly alarmed by the walkers, which were currently clawing at the air, desperately trying to reach the fresh meat above them. Christa followed in suit, though in a much calmer matter. Kenny picked up the thick metal pole that lay beneath some scaffolding, grabbing it as a makeshift weapon before following his allies. The pole wouldn't usually be Kenny's first choice of weapon, but if worst came to worst, he could bludgeon a walker (or human) to death with it.

* * *

It took several hours, but the trio had made their way across Savannah, crossing building after building. By this point, it was around sunset, and the air was cooling. Kenny dropped three feet onto the next building, and took in the sunset before him. It was a beautiful view. The sky was tinged orange and purple as the sky set behind a line of buildings. It almost made him forget about the current state of the world. Looking at it, he could visualize the world as it was, when his day's goal was to catch fish, rather than save little girls from psychotic stalkers.

At this point, Omid and Christa had joined him. Standing at his side, they gazed at the building ahead of them. It was several stories tall, and looked to be made of brick. A large sign stretched across its exterior, reading 'The Marsh House'. Upon reading the massive sign, Kenny's lips curved into a facsimile of a smile. Their destination was dead ahead of them.

Kenny looked at the gap between the two buildings. The street between them was composed of a dark-colored cobblestone. However, there was one slight problem, one that Kenny smelled and heard before he actually saw. The simple street that lay between them and Clementine seemed to be completely infested with walkers. They were as densely packed as a crowd at a football stadium, and it seemed to be just as populated as well, if not more.

Kenny couldn't help but wonder if the herd that they were facing was the same herd that he and his group had inadvertently formed while traversing rural Georgia. For that matter, he wondered whether the score of walking corpses before him was the same herd that he had previously seen outside of the hospital. Perhaps the herds were different, but it seemed more likely that the train had led thousands of walkers into Savannah, which had branched off into several other smaller herds, which dispersed throughout the city. Kenny blinked a few times and shook his head vigorously. He was over-thinking the situation, and he couldn't afford to do that, lest his head not be in the game. He needed to stay completely focused.

"There she is, the Marsh House. It's around the corner and up the block." Kenny stated, crossing his arms as he tried to brainstorm a plan.

Omid sighed loudly, "We finally made it." He uttered cheerfully, before he looked at the rather large horde of walkers that blocked them off. Upon seeing the sheer size of the herd, Omid backed up a few steps, and remarked, "Never mind."

Kenny scanned the entire street multiple times, and he came up with two plans, each of which being extremely risky. However, in the end, Kenny decided that one of the plans was far safer than the other, and proceeded to say, "I guess we have to cross this piece-of-shit."

The 'piece-of-shit' that Kenny was referencing was a metal sign that read 'Maccabe Imports'. The sign stretched from the building they were on to the one across the street, and was made of a rusted metal that looked like it would collapse upon the slightest touch. Crossing it looked like it would be very risky, but it wasn't as risky of a plan as trying to fight through the herd. "Well, at least it doesn't look like a death trap." Omid joked. The sign then let out an audible and unsettling creaking noise, seemingly shaking in its supports, which caused Christa to glare at Omid, as if he had jinxed it. Unfazed, Omid inquired, "Who's going first?"

"I'll go." Kenny instantly replied. "I got nothin' left in this shithole of a world to live for. If anyone should risk their life, it should be the person who don't have shit, A.K.A., me." Both Christa and Omid began to protest, but before they could say anything, Kenny had already stepped onto the sign, a terrified expression dawning on his face, his eyes widening in fear. One mistake would cause him to fall, which would cripple and effectively kill him. Putting his fear aside, he began to cautiously shuffle across the sign.

"Are you fucking nuts?!" Omid half-screamed, half asked, terrified of the prospect of losing yet another person in the group.

Kenny stopped in his tracks, and hollered, "Omid, you go next, since you're the lightest son of a bitch I ever met. Christa, you do the same once Omid's across; we can't put to much weight on this piece of junk." He then continued to cross the sign, slowly inching his way towards the other side, stopping every once in a while when he thought he heard the sign creak. 'It's probably just me being paranoid.' He thought hopefully.

After a few more minutes, the Floridian man was able to successfully cross the sign, climbing up to the building. Kenny let out a great sigh of relief. He had crossed the so-called 'death trap' unscathed.

He then motioned for Omid to cross the sign, reassuring, "Don't y'all worry, it's an easy crossing. You should be okay…probably."

Omid hesitated slightly, before slowly moving across the sign, a nervous look clearly showing on his face. It took a while, mainly due to his bad leg slowing him down, but he was able to safely join Kenny on the other side. "It's okay babe. I know you're scared of heights, but it should be safe." Omid said, only half-seriously.

Christa glanced at Omid, and smirked. "Yeah, right. Remember our trip to Disney." Omid grinned at this comment, but his face fell as Christa began to edge her way across the metal sign, which was creaking louder than ever. 'C'mon, just a bit farther.' Kenny thought, nervously watching the sign shake in its supports. Just as she was about to get to the ledge at the other end, the sign collapsed to the ground with a loud _*crash*_, landing on a small pack of walkers, which instantly flattened them.

"Oh my God, Christa!" Omid shouted, his voice full of panic, and rightly so, as she barely had a grip on the remnants of the sign, which were thankfully still connected to building's edge. Thankfully, Christa was able to pull herself onto the ledge, and work her way up to Kenny and Omid, the latter pulling her into a tight embrace. "That was…that was too close." Omid stuttered, adrenaline coursing through his blood. Kenny's heart was pounding in agreement. 'If only what happened to Lee was just a close call.' Kenny thought sadly, looking at the hugging couple.

Christa's heart was clearly pounding from the near-death experience. "Jesus. I thought…I thought that was it." Christa murmured into Omid's shoulder. The two separated, and Christa asked, "Okay, now what?"

"Well, there's no way we can make it through that herd." Kenny said, stating the obvious. "But there's probably some sort of rooftop access, or if not, we can enter through one of the balconies on the upper floors." Omid and Christa nodded in agreement, and the trio began to walk over to the Marsh House. As they walked, anger began to cloud his mind, just as it did before. Clementine and her kidnapper were within his grasp. Kenny glanced at the couple beside him, wondering if they felt the same way, when he realized that he had a question for them.

"So…" Kenny began curiously, "What happened at Disney?" Kenny asked, hoping to find out more about his allies, whom he had only met less than a week ago.

"C'mon, do we have to tell him the story?" Omid joked seeming to be slightly embarrassed by the events that had transpired. This only fueled Kenny's curiosity.

Christa ignored her boyfriend and said, "Well, about three months before…all this, Omid took me to Disney for my birthday. His cousin worked there and had hooked him up with free 'easy-passes", so we could get to the front of the line. Anyway, so we decide to go on this huge Ferris wheel, and I admit, I was not a fan of the whole concept of being up so high. But that was nothing compared to Omid. He puked all over the compartment, multiple times. They had to stop the ride so maintenance " Christa was grinning at the memory, despite the situation they were in. "But, despite all that, I had a really great time there." Christa said. Kenny was trying to stifle a laugh, while Christa was openly grinning, and Omid was looking at the two with red cheeks.

"Man," Kenny said. "I needed that. Thanks." The persistent feeling of anger had ceded slightly, and Kenny found himself appreciating the company that he had. Although he had been wary of them at first, they had earned their way into his good books, and they seemed to be able to bring him out of the ever-consuming rages . As they approached the roof of the infamous 'Marsh House', Omid quickly pointed out a door that presumably led to a stairwell or an elevator shaft.

"Okay." Kenny said. "Here's the plan. I'll go down to the bottom floor and search there. Christa, you search the second floor. Omid, you take the third. Once you clear it out, we each go up a floor to search or double-check the floor above us. Try and be quiet, we want to take this bastard down without a fight."

"Shouldn't we all search together, just in case? Safety in numbers, right?" Christa asked.

"No, we shouldn't. When we clump together, we make more noise, and that'll just tell him we're here. Also, if he does catch us off guard, and hold us at gunpoint, then its better if we are spread out, so that he can't get us all at once. If y'all find him, either knock 'em out, or pretend y'all have bullets in your gun." Kenny told them. He made some good points, which led the others to sigh and give Kenny the thumbs up.

"Okay, let's go. When we find this fucker, we make him suffer for the shit he's done to us, and the shit he's done to Clem." Kenny added. This last statement caused Christa and Omid to uncomfortably shift their weight, but they made no objections. Kenny then opened the door, revealing a dark and gloomy stairwell. Stepping inside, he noticed the dank atmosphere, along with the vile smell of the undead: ancient road-kill coupled with burnt bacon fat. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Kenny stealthily trudged down the steps in hopes of catching Clementine's fucked-up kidnapper off guard.

The group of three slowly picked their way down the stairs, being careful not to make too much sound. Upon reaching the third floor, Omid reached for his empty gun and opened a metal door, which presumably led to the corridor where rooms were located. Omid nodded to Kenny and Christa before exiting the stairwell, his gun pointed in front of him.

Christa was next, stopping at the second floor to inspect the bedrooms located there. Waving to Kenny, she grabbed her pistol and marched into the hallway to inspect the hotel rooms.

After what seemed like ages, Kenny arrived at the ground floor. Opening the metal door, he marched into the corridor wielding his pistol and his pole. As he walked to the nearest room, Kenny couldn't help but hope that he would be the one to find the fucker. Kenny wanted to be the one to put a bullet between the man's eyes for what he had done to his group, for what he had done to Lee.

Approaching the nearest hotel room, Kenny twisted the door handle, only to find that it was locked. 'Of fucking course,' Kenny thought, vexed by the situation at hand. Seeing no other option, Kenny prepared to use his pole to pry the door open, but he heard a light thumping noise a few doors down, which he strolled over to. Not wanting to take any risks, Kenny put his ear against the door, and his ears were greeted by absolute silence. As an extra precaution, Kenny tucked the metal pole into the back of his waistband, concealing it with his shirt. If I found myself in a bad position, I'd still have a weapon,' Kenny thought cleverly, and he opened the door before him, which creaked rather loudly as it swung on its hinges. Scanning the room, Kenny was greeted by a rather nice hotel room. Everything looked ordinary at first, until he noticed that one of the doors was tied to a closet door with a thick rope. He held the rope in his hands, curious as to its purpose, before hearing something from behind him. Kenny turned around, only to be greeted by a gun pointed at his chest, finally taking a good look at Clementine's kidnapper. He had dull brown hair, with hazel-green eyes and overly full lips.

"Hello, Kenny." The Stranger said.

_**A/N: Well, that was Chapter Three! I really hope you guys enjoy the story so far, and that you found the events of the chapter to be realistic. Anyway, if you enjoy the story, don't be afraid to follow or favorite this fanfic. If you want to ask me question or make a comment, then please review and I will reply in next chapter's author's note. Until next time.**_

_**-ZombieSlayer995**_


	4. Stranger Danger

_**A/N: Hello everybody! Well, here is the mass author's note.**_

_**BillyZhao:**__** Thanks so much. Honestly, I don't like stories that completely focus on a pairing, but maybe I'll do something. However, I don't think I'll have a Lee/Sarita romance. I think I want to give them a relationship similar to Rick and Michonne's relationship in the TV show: very close friends/allies.**_

_**UltimateHoboChuc:**__** Thanks. I always wondered how the Stranger would react if he talked with Kenny, who was the one who encouraged people to take his supplies. Anyway, the conversation will turn out differently, that's for sure.**_

_**Micidonalboss:**__** Yeah, the Stranger's discussion with Kenny will be MUCH more heated, but also more personal, due to how much the Stranger hates Kenny.**_

_**Santiago Poncini 20**__**: Thanks man, much appreciated.**_

_**I can't believe that three chapters in, I already have 4 favorites, 5 follows, and 12 reviews. I have already reached my goal for reviews in the episode. I thank you all. My goal was to get 10 favorites, 10 follows, and 10 reviews by the end of "No Time Remaining", which will probably contain 2-4 more chapters after this one. **_

_**Anyways, let the story commence!**_

**Kenny's POV**

Kenny was glaring intently at the man standing in front of him, his eyes filled with loathing. However, his anger was nothing compared to that of the Stranger's. If looks could kill, Kenny would have been wiped off the face of the planet. The Stranger's face was contorted with hatred. Why the man targeted his group, Kenny didn't know, but he was sure he would find out soon enough. Despite the man's obvious hatred towards Kenny and his group, the Stranger managed to keep a calm tone, "Where's Lee and the rest?" Kenny didn't give him the luxury of a response, so the now smiling Stranger continued, "I see, the herd got them. Good."

Kenny's blood began to boil. Reckless as usual, Kenny muttered, "How do you know my goddamn name?"

"Observations. Observations and conversations." The Stranger replied. It looked like the Stranger was trying to keep a calm tone, because he sounded strained, and his eyes stared daggers at the Floridian man in front of him.

Kenny, not really caring, recklessly said, "I'm gonna kill you."

"I have a gun." The Stranger remarked. "Go over there, and put your things down." The Stranger said, gesturing to a dresser that next to Clem's makeshift prison. Kenny was about to reply, but suddenly, they heard the sound of fists banging on a door. "Let me out! Who's out there?" Clementine pleaded/asked. Kenny was about to respond, but suddenly, he felt a gun pressed against his temple. "Shh." The Stranger ordered. "Quiet, please, sweetie." The man asked of Clementine. "Your things, there." The Stranger repeated, gesturing with his gun.

When Kenny didn't do anything, the Stranger angrily replied, "I'm going to kill you anyway, don't you want to live longer?"

At this, Kenny walked over to the dresser, and laid Clementine's walkie-talkie and hat on the dresser. "There's no way you could have gotten across Savannah with no weapons. Take out your weapons or I will not hesitate to put this bullet in you. I've wanted to kill you for weeks now. I want to hurt you so bad, but I was hoping that I could converse with you before we get to that."

"Fine. Take it you piece of shit." Kenny sighed with pseudo-disappointment, as he put his empty gun on the dresser. The Stranger looked satisfied after seeing an actual weapon lying on the dresser. He didn't know that he had picked up a large metal pole, and had it concealed on his person.

"Good. Now, let us talk. Sit down." The Stranger said, pointing his gun at a chair. He then took a seat in the chair opposite Kenny's, all the meanwhile aiming his gun at Kenny. When they both sat down, the Stranger put his arms on the chair's armrest, not really aiming his gun at Kenny. However, it would be easy to lift and shoot the gun if necessary. "Do you know who I am?" The Stranger asked in a monotonous voice.

"No." Kenny replied honestly, but with a very angry tone. "I don't know shit about you, you crazy fuck!"

"Oh, I'm not crazy." The Stranger replied. "And of course you don't know who I am. People as selfish and stupid as you don't." Kenny's face contorted with rage, like it did during his arguments with Lilly. But he didn't get the chance to shout at him, before the Stranger continued, "I bet you're thinking 'who would have it out for me?' huh? A couple weeks ago, there might have been…a station wagon in the forest." Kenny's eyes grew to the size of quarters at this statement. "Full of all sorts of food, water, things people need to survive." The Stranger revealed. "Yeah Kenny. I'm not some cannibal. Some killer out in the woods. Some…villain. I'm just a…dad. I coach little league." The Stranger looked like he was about to strangle Kenny, who was pale as a sheet.

"My group was starving to death! If we didn't take that shit, we would have died! You just left your shit out there, right out in the open for the taking. You didn't even think to lock your goddamn car!" Kenny protested.

"FOR THE TAKING!" Do you have any idea what you took from me?!" The Stranger shouted, completely losing his cool.

This caused Kenny to lash out, yelling, "I don't give a shit! Not after what you did. Not after you kidnapped a little girl from her rightful guardian!"

"I didn't take her from Lee, I rescued her from that monster." The Stranger replied angrily.

"Monster?! Lee was one of the most moral people I knew. He refused to take your shit! He sacrificed his life to put some screw-up of a kid out of his misery. And you call him a monster?!" Kenny shouted is disbelief.

"That man murdered people! He put Clementine in danger, time and time again! He let Clementine onto a farm full of sick people, and let them hurt her! He brought a her into the most dangerous place in Georgia, and even if he didn't steal from me, think about everything else he did!" The Stranger yelled, his voice laced with fury. "Anyway, we're getting away from the point. I want you to know what you and your group have done to me."

With that, the Stranger began to tell his tale. "My son, Adam, went missing. I took him out hunting, even though his mother said he was too young. But I knew he needed to learn. I came back without him, and the look on her face said 'You are a monster.' We all went out looking for him, but we never found him. I hurt her…so bad." The Stranger stated sadly, looking down at the floor. After a few seconds, he looked back up at Kenny, and continued. "Then you took all of our things. You robbed us. I could have earned her trust back Kenny, but not after that." Kenny didn't respond. As angry as he was with the man, he felt a twinge of sympathy for him. However, Kenny still loathed the Stranger, and would honor Lee's memory by freeing Clementine and killing the Stranger.

The Stranger continued his story. "The hungrier we got the more she blamed me. Until she finally took our daughter Elizabeth and left. They didn't get far…I…found them, a day later. In the road." The Stranger's voice was filled with sorrow. By this point, even Kenny felt sympathetic for the man. He had done exactly what Ben had done: indirectly kill this man's entire family. Although this made him feel guilty, he still loathed the man in front of him. This man had kidnapped a little girl, and indirectly killed two members of their group. Not only that, he was also the reason that only Ben was at the manor to defend against Vernon and his crew. However, the anger that Kenny felt for this man outweighed any sympathy he felt for him.

"Do I look like a monster to you?" The Stranger asked.

Kenny's sympathetic side said no, but his larger, more dominant, angry side won out, and Kenny said, "Of course you do. No matter what we did to you, we did it accidentally! You kidnapped a little fucking girl, you fucker! You're family is probably glad their dead, so they don't have to see your sorry face!"

Kenny's response caused the Stranger's face to contort with anger, but only for a second, before he was able to show a calm face. "At least I didn't kill my own family! If you had just watched your son, then he wouldn't have gotten bit! You. Killed. Your. Family!" The Stranger stated, furiously.

After hearing this, Kenny snapped. He could take a lot of things, but nobody could blame him for the deaths of Katjaa and Duck. "No one, talks that way about me, or my family!" Kenny screamed in rage. Kenny stood up, whipped out the metal pipe, and was about to slam it into the Stranger's skull when Kenny felt a searing pain in his left leg, causing him to fall back into his seat, screaming, "FUCKING FUCK!". He looked up, and saw the Stranger holding up his gun, the barrel smoking from the shot, with a smug look on his face. The Stranger grabbed the pipe off of the floor, and threw it back by the dresser.

The Stranger proclaimed, "I may have done things I'm not proud of, but you…you've committed…atrocities. You brutally murdered a sick man in front of both his daughter and Clementine!"

"He was dead! He would've turned and ripped us apart!" Kenny defended, but even he had doubts about this. Ever since the meat locker, he had a nagging feeling of guilt that maybe, just maybe, Larry could have been saved. Or he could have killed him less brutally at least, or let Lilly say goodbye. But he didn't vocalize any of these doubts. Rather, he just looked down at the ground.

"You antagonized an innocent woman until she reached her breaking point and shot a woman!" The Stranger hollered, clearly furious with Kenny.

Kenny also felt slightly guilty about his antagonism of Lilly, but he had his reasons. With that in mind, he replied, "I needed to! It was the only way to get us out of the Motor Inn! If we had left earlier, we might not have gotten attacked!"

Ignoring this, the now red-faced Stranger yelled, "YOU LED THE ROBBERY OF MY CAR! YOU DESTROYED MY GODDAMN FAMILY! YOU KEEP THINKING THAT MY VENDETTA IS CRAZY, BUT YOU ENCOURAGED THE MURDER OF A TEENAGER FOR THE SAME REASONS!" The Stranger's voice was filled with rage and hatred, and he glared intensely at Kenny, lowering the gun that he had raised while screaming at him.

Kenny felt the guiltiest after hearing this. In some sick way, the Stranger was right. He held the same vendetta against Ben for causing him to lose his family. He couldn't blame the Stranger for hating him, but at least Kenny didn't intend to hurt anyone when he stole from the Stranger's car. Kenny hoped that Christa and Omid heard the gunfire and shouting, or at least noticed Kenny's absence.

However, there was one question that was left unanswered. "How could you know all this?" After hearing this, the Stranger smirked, and pulled a blue walkie-talkie off of his belt.

"You're a monster. You're a murderer, and a thief. And I'm going to hurt you so bad." The Stranger said furiously.

Kenny protested, "We were starving and freezing out there! We would have died if we hadn't taken those supplies!"

"You made MY FAMILY starve and freeze out there! MY family died out there!" The Stranger yelled. "At first, I wasn't even mad at Lee. Just you, for encouraging the others to rob us. But after I heard more and more about the things you did, and the danger she was in, our plan changed."

"Kenny, you need to listen to me before what happens next. I can take care of her. We can have a family." The Stranger informed Kenny, much to his shock.

"Fuck you! I am honoring Lee! And I am doing that by taking Clem back, and killing you, you son of a bitch!" Kenny hollered.

"And in doing that, you will only prove my point." The Stranger said smugly. "You. Are. A monster." The Stranger then did something odd. He leaned over in his chair, looked into a striped bowling bag, and began to talk. "Hey, honey. I think this is all going to work out." The Stranger reassured the bag.

"The fuck are you…" Kenny began, before seeing the ropes binding the doors together come loose. A hatless Clementine quietly emerged, looking at Kenny with a terrified expression. Kenny's eyes wandered over to the metal pole, which was right next to Clementine's feet. Clementine followed his gaze, grabbed the pole, and began to advance on the Stranger.

"I hate seeing you like this. I just miss your smile honey." The Stranger continued, talking into his bag. "I miss you so much Tess. You're gonna like Clementine a lot though. She's not Lizzy but she's sweet. She wouldn't hurt a fly." Apparently though, Clementine COULD hurt a human, as the slammed the pole into the Stranger's temple. Since she was a kid, she didn't have the strength to knock him out, but she definitely disoriented the Stranger, which Kenny used as an advantage to lunge onto the Stranger. However, as he lunged, the Stranger kicked him aside, and tried to put his gun to Kenny's head. After a brief struggle, Kenny managed to kick the Stranger off of him, and into the corner of the bed, knocking the gun from his hands. Kenny attempted to get up and grab the gun, but he fell to the ground in agony, remembering his injured leg.

By this point, the Stranger was able to retrieve his pistol, and he aimed it at Kenny's forehead. "Say goodnight, you monster." Kenny closed his eyes, anticipating the shot. Instead, he heard a grunt as the Stranger fell to the ground. When Kenny opened his eyes, he saw Omid and Christa on top of the Stranger, wrestling for the gun. After a struggle, Omid managed to knock the gun out of the Stranger's hand. Omid ran to retrieve the gun, but the decrease of weight holding down the Stranger allowed him to gain the upper hand, flipping Christa off of him, standing up, and holding Christa in a chokehold.

Omid had grabbed the gun, but turned around to see his girlfriend in a chokehold. "Drop the gun now, or she dies." The Stranger exclaimed. "You think I'm lying? You throw the gun away, or I will kill Christa." Christa's face had begun to turn blue from lack of oxygen. "DO IT!" Kenny wanted to help, but he couldn't get up with his injured leg.

Omid heeded the Stranger's words, and threw the gun to his side. "Now." The Stranger said, "You will all get out of here, or…*_BANG_*!

Christa was suddenly released from the Stranger's grip as a bullet powered through the Stranger's eyeball, knocking him to the side. Everyone turned, and was shocked to see none other than Clementine holding the smoking gun. She held the pose for a few more seconds before dropping her gun and sobbing. A recuperating Christa was able to pull Clementine into a tight hug. Omid put his hand on Clementine's shoulder, and Kenny was able to crawl over to Clementine and put his arm around her.

"Wait…where's Lee?" Clementine asked, scanning the room for her guardian. Nobody answered, but everybody stared at the floor in sorrow. Seeing this, the truth began to dawn on the little girl. "N- n-no, no, no! This can't be…" Clementine stammered, before she began to sob.

_**A/N: I bet you were all shocked by how the conversation turned out! I tried to make the discussion between Kenny and the Stranger as realistic as possible, and I hope you enjoyed the altered fight scene. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, so if you enjoyed this chapter, please follow or favorite, or review if you have any questions. Anyways, ciao! **_

_**-ZombieSlayer995**_


	5. Dancing With Death

_**A/N: Hello again, it is I, ZombieSlayer995, coming to you with another chapter to this fanfic. However, before I get to the story, I must do my mass author's note, which will reply to last chapter's SIX reviewers!**_

_**Santiago Poncini 20**__**: I take it you are not a huge fan of Kenny! I also take it that you are a fan of Omid! However, since I want the story to (at first) just be the normal Season 2, just with Lee in it, Omid and Omid Junior will both die, no matter how much I enjoyed Omid's character in Season One. As for Kenny, even I'm not sure quite yet. And also, thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.**_

_**guest (Guest): **__** Thanks! I'm glad you found that scene to be realistic. I hoped that people would agree with me on how their conversation might go.**_

_**guest 52 (Guest): **__**You'll just have to see for yourself. I hate spoilers, so I don't want to spoil anything**_

_**guests (Guest):**__** I'd imagine that what they've been told about Clem's parents, combined with Clementine's inevitable reaction, would say enough**_

_**Micidonalboss**__**: Don't worry, you will find out soon enough.**_

_**BillyZhao**__**: I already answered your question earlier, but no, both Omid and Omid Junior will still die, as until "In Harm's Way", I want to keep the story the same, just with Lee instead of Kenny.**_

_**By the way, this is a message to all guests. If you don't have an account, it's super easy to make, and all you need is to give an email, username, and password. If you are just too lazy to sign in, I can understand that, as you would be doing what I do when I read fanfiction on my phone (doesn't stay signed in)**_

_**And now, let the story commence!**_

**Christa's POV**

It had been about five minutes since Clementine had killed the Stranger, and she was still bawling, wrapped tightly in Christa's embrace. At this point, they knew that they all needed to go. "Clementine, honey. I'm sorry, but we need to leave now. Come on, Clem." Christa murmured as gently as possible.

Clementine's eyes were red, and tears still streaked down her face, but she managed to weakly nod and dry her eyes. "O-Okay, Christa." Clementine looked like she was in danger of crying again, but she spotted two familiar objects in Omid's grasp: her hat and her radio. Clementine immediately put the hat back on her head, her face lighting up by a miniscule amount. Then she saw the radio. The one she had used to talk to the Stranger. The one that got Lee killed. Clementine swiped the radio out of Omid's hand, and threw it at the wall as hard as she could, knocking the batteries out, and snapping the antenna in half. Christa heard Clementine take a deep breath, and then say in a wavering voice, "L-let's go now."

Christa turned to see Omid supporting Kenny, "Okay, so we go back the way we came?" Kenny asked, eager to leave the hotel behind.

Christa sucked air between her teeth and muttered, "No. About fifty walkers or so wandered into the stairwell from one of the rooms on the fourth floor. We were just barely able to lock them in the stairwell."

"So, if that option's out, what do we do?" Omid inquired. "I mean, we have to choose walkers or walkers, what do we do?

"We could try sneaking past the ones outside." Kenny suggested, "All we need to do is be really quiet, and maybe throw some shit away from us."

"It'll be hard now that two of us now have injured legs. We just have to be quiet, and I can't see why that wouldn't work." Christa agreed. "Clementine, are you okay with doing this?" At first Clementine didn't respond. "Clementine." Christa repeated.

At hearing this, Clementine blinked and nodded, "Okay."

"It's going to be scary Clem, but you gotta be strong. Got it?" Kenny asked Clem.

The still distraught Clementine nodded, though it didn't really seem like she was listening. "Okay guys, let's go." Christa said, taking the metal pole, and giving Omid the gun. She opened the door that led into the corridor, only to be greeted by a walker, its mouth hanging ajar. As soon as Christa opened the door, the walker lunged at her, pinning her to the ground, and knocking the pole out of her grasp. "Shit! Someone, help!" Omid quickly responded, dropping Kenny, who was able to balance on his one good leg, and shoving the walker off of his girlfriend. He then proceeded to stab the walker through the forehead with the pole, which he had grabbed off of the ground. A still visibly shaken Christa managed to utter, "Thanks, Omid."

Omid smiled in response, before handing Christa the pole. "Be more careful next time babe." He said, before he went over to Kenny to help support him. The group of four then went over to the entrance to the Marsh House, their ears being greeted by the telltale sounds of the herd before they even opened the door.

Christa slowly peeked out the door, scanning the surrounding area for a good minute before quietly closing it. "The street's infested. There's no way we can get out this way; there aren't any openings!" Christa shouted, panic clearly audible in her voice.

Clementine suddenly got an idea. "What if we distract the walkers with that?" Clementine asked, her cheeks still coated with dried tears. Her finger was pointed at an empty bottle of bourbon that lay next to Kenny's foot.

After much grunting and several cries in pain, Kenny was able to bend down and get hold of the glass bottle. He held it up for everybody to see. "That might actually work." Kenny said in awe, looking at the little girl. "We throw the bottle over to the other side of the street, draw as many of those shit-stains away from this here hotel. Then we just quietly run through the street while the herd is distracted! Great idea, Clem!"

This comment caused the smallest hint of a smile to appear on Clementine's face. This caused everyone to smile slightly. "Okay, on three." Christa ordered, taking the bottle from Kenny. "One. Two. Three!" On three, Christa opened the door slightly, and threw the bottle as hard as she could. It spiraled through the air for a good few seconds before crashing into a building on the opposite side of the street. A good amount of the surrounding walkers turned towards the noise, and slowly began to shuffle towards the sound. "Now!" Christa whispered, and she threw open the door. They quietly shuffled across the street, seeing the majority of the horde over by one of the buildings, stupidly trying to pinpoint the source of the noise.

Suddenly, Omid tripped over a crack in the road, causing both him and Kenny to come crashing to the ground. "AHH, FUCK!" Kenny bellowed, landing on his gunshot wound, the pain causing him to momentarily forget about the imminent threat. Kenny and Omid were quietly able to get up, but it was too late. The herd had already noticed them, and the walkers began to stumble towards their prey.

Christa muttered, "Shit!" and they began to pick up the pace and run, only for her to notice that Clementine wasn't with them. She turned around to find the said little girl staring at the horde, a look of terror on her face. "Clem, I know it's scary, but…" Christa began, only to look at what Clementine was staring at. Leading the herd were two walkers, a man and a woman, both resembling none other than Clementine.

Christa remembered something Lee told her at the manor, _"Clementine's parents came here right before all this started, and left her with a babysitter. I listened to some messages on her answering machine…they didn't make it. But she doesn't need to know that. Not yet at least."_ Well, Lee was right, Clem's parents didn't make it. Seeing no other option, Christa picked Clementine up by her armpits and began to run, slamming her pole into any walkers that dared to cross her path.

It didn't take them long to catch up to Omid and Kenny, since they were moving fairly slow. "Oh my god, Christa, Clem, are you okay?" Omid asked.

"We're fine." Christa replied, but when she turned to Clem, she saw fresh tears running down her face.

"AGHHH!" Omid and Kenny had fell again, this time it was because Kenny's leg was grabbed by a lurker, which Christa quickly impaled through the head. Omid and Kenny were able to get up in a few seconds, but a few seconds were all the walkers needed to almost completely surround the small group of four.

"FUCK! We're trapped!" Omid shouted, his voice laced with fear.

"No, you ain't." Kenny said weakly. Without any notice, Kenny wriggled from Omid's support, and grabbed the pole from Christa. "I'll lure them away. You three run." Christa was about to protest, but Kenny quickly hopped over and began to kill some walkers, clearing a small opening into an alleyway. "HEY! C'MERE YOU SONS A' BITCHES!" Kenny hollered, slamming his pole against a metal gutter, creating a loud vibrating sound. Several dozen of the herd branched off, shuffling towards the injured Kenny.

"We have to help him!" Omid exclaimed. "We can't just leave him!"

Christa wanted more than anything to go back and save the man. But she knew, deep down, that doing that would only get the three of them killed too. "We can't, there's too many of them!" She replied in a flustered manner. She began to pull Omid and Clementine towards a newly created opening.

"I'LL BE FINE! GO!" Kenny yelled, slamming a walker's temple with his pole, then impaling it through another's head, screaming the names of those he had lost. As the three of them ran farther away, the screams of Kenny became more and more distant, until they stumbled upon an apartment building

* * *

"This way!" Christa commanded, pointing at an old brick building with an open door. Omid swung open the door, and scanned the interior of the building, holding up his gun to use as a last resort. Clementine entered the building once Omid gave the 'all clear', and Christa brought up the rear, slamming the door behind her, and pressing her back up against it. She was glad to relax after running for the past ten minutes "We should rest here for a while." Clementine and Omid nodded in agreement. Facing no imminent danger, Clementine put her head in her hands and began to sob.

"We saw her parents." Christa said to a downtrodden Omid. "They…didn't make it." This statement only caused Clementine to cry even harder, who was taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down.

Omid walked over to Clementine and embraced Clementine, who was sobbing, "This is all my fault, all my fault, all my fault." Omid was able to whisper something into her ear, which got her to calm down.

"Clem, listen. I know that we aren't…" Christa didn't want to say Lee's name, out of fear that she would continue to cry. "But I promise you that Omid and I will do everything in our power to protect you. Okay?"

Clementine managed to raise her head and utter a weak "Yeah, yeah."

"I'll take first watch." Omid said. "You two rest."

"It's okay Omid, I'll take first watch." Christa informed her boyfriend, knowing that Omid with his still injured leg needed more rest than she did.

"No babe, I've got it. You two rest up." Omid reassured Christa.

Hearing this, Christa embraced Clementine, and her eyes began to feel heavy. "Omid, just wake me up in a few hours, you need sleep just as much as we do." She murmured.

Omid smiled in agreement, and picked up a rusty old crowbar from the ground next to him, placing it in his lap. The last thing Christa saw was her boyfriend winking at her.

* * *

Christa woke up to the bright rays of sunshine beaming into her eyes. Rubbing them incessantly, she slowly lowered a slumbering Clementine to the floor as she glared at a clearly drowsy Omid. "Omid!" Christa whispered. Omid turned to look at Christa. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"You needed the beauty sleep." Omid grinned, "You'd be hideous without it." Even after losing so many people, Christa was so glad to have her joking boyfriend looking out for her.

Christa laughed, "Well then, I'm glad I had my beauty sleep, but you look exhausted. How long was I asleep?" As much as Christa loved a good night's sleep, she knew that Omid needed to sleep just as much as she did.

"About eight or nine hours." Omid guessed. "I mean, that's what it felt like. Can't be sure though."

"Omid, I told you to wake me." Christa reminded him. "But thank you. I'm just so glad I have you here Omid."

"Me too hon', me too." Omid agreed whole-heartedly, smiling at his tall girlfriend. The two then shared a deep kiss, which lasted for quite a while only to be interrupted by…

"Eww, gross." Clementine gagged, staring at the smiling couple. This caused both Christa and Omid to burst out laughing, laughing at Clementine's remaining innocence. The laughter was contagious, and soon even sad little Clementine was giggling along with her guardians, but when the laughter ended, she began to sink back into her depression, staring at the ground.

After looking at Clementine, Christa decided that they needed to talk. "Clementine, honey, do you mind if we talk?"

"I guess not." Clementine said dejectedly, still saddened by the deaths of Lee and her parents.

"Look Clem, I know I'm not…" Christa paused before she could mention Lee, not wanting Clementine to start crying again. "Anyways, Omid and I were asked to look after you. I know that we aren't perfect, but we care about you Clementine, and we will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, I can promise you that."

This caused Clementine to look up at her guardian with an expression on her face that looked…hopeful. Clementine instantly embraced her guardian, and asked, "Do you promise that you won't leave me?"

"Yes Clem, I do." Christa answered honestly. There was no way that Christa would ever abandon this little girl. Not unless she were forced to. After they released each other, Christa peeked out the door. "Omid?" Christa inquired, turning to her boyfriend, only to find that he was fast asleep. Instantly thinking of a way to cheer Clementine up, she and Clementine walked over to Omid, and put their faces right in front of his face. "On three." Christa said, smiling. "One. Two. Three. BOO!" The girls yelled simultaneously.

"AHH! Omid shouted, falling off of the cardboard box that he used as a makeshift chair, causing Clementine and Christa to burst out laughing, which made Omid's ears and cheeks turn red. "Yeah, what is it?" Omid said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"The herd outside has cleared out. We should do as we planned: head for the countryside" Christa informed him, still amused by what had just occurred.

"Okay, lets go." Omid replied drowsily, having never received a good night's sleep. He passed his crowbar to Christa before drawing his handgun and opening the door. The two then began to trudge through the now-empty streets.

_**A/N: Well, this chapter may not have been as action-packed, but the goal of this chapter was to narrow the group down to three, and to have some character development as well. I will not confirm whether or not Kenny is alive or dead, as I have not yet decided, but if he is alive, I doubt he will appear later on in this story. I hope you understand why this happened to Kenny.**_

_**a) Although I thoroughly enjoyed Kenny's presence in Season 2, I feel that his "Ben" death in Season 1 was very well written, and it was a very fitting sendoff to his character. So, if Kenny did die, he had a very heroic death**_

_**b) He got shot in the leg, making it a pain in the ass to move. Besides, him doing something reckless to get himself shot seems like it is in his nature, as seen when he charges at Andy St. John, even when Andy has a gun pointed at his son**_

_**c) I needed Kenny to be separated from the group so that the rest of the story's events (other than Lee's re-emergence) can remain similar to the canon events.**_

_**If you have a question, or just want to comment on the story, then don't be afraid to leave a review.**_

_**Anyways, see you next time!**_

_**-ZombieSlayer995**_


	6. I Walk Alone

_**A/N: Hello everyone, this is ZombieSlayer995 coming to you with a chapter that stars…Lee! This chapter will show what happened to Lee after the whole "Ben Incident". I hope you enjoy the chapter, but first, my mass author's note.**_

_**Smeake**__**: No, Kenny will not meet Clem at the Ski Lodge, and personally, even I don't know whether Kenny should be alive or dead. So for now, we'll leave him with an "Unknown" status.**_

_**Epic Hobo Chuck**__**: Yeah, making an account is super-easy. I hope that you are happy to see Lee this chapter, and I hope you understand why I separated Kenny from the group, and that like you said, the real variable of the story is Lee's presence throughout.**_

_**Leafs Nation**__**: Thanks! I'm really glad you enjoy the story.**_

_**Now, without further ado, here comes the story!**_

_**Lee's POV**_

Lee managed to slice a one-armed walker through the skull with his meat cleaver before pistol-whipping another one to the asphalt. Taking advantage of the opening, he quickly staggered out of the overrun alley, and ran across the street into a desolate drug store.

He looked back at the building he had originally descended from. His chances of being able to reunite with Christa, Omid, and Kenny were fairly slim, especially considering the amount of walkers in the alley, and the fact that Savannah might as well have been foreign territory without his map, which he had given to Vernon. Lee lowered his head in sorrow, and put his head in his remaining hand. He had to face the reality that he would never again see Clementine. The amount of walkers, combined with the fact that he was lost, made it impossible to make his way across Savannah in one piece. It was because of this that he was glad he had talked about Clementine's future in the attic. If…no, when Christa, Kenny, and Omid get the guy who took Clementine, Christa and Omid would look after her as if she was their own child.

The fact that he would never see Clementine again filled Lee with grief. Although he had only known her for three months, those three months had showed him what it was like to be a father. They may not have been biologically related, but Lee cared more about Clem than he did about anyone else he had ever met, even more than he loved his wife from when they had a stable, loving relationship. But now, Lee also knew how it felt to lose your child, and the sorrow consumed him. There was only one thing keeping the sorrow from completely overcoming him: Clementine would want him to be happy, and to keep on living. Lee decided, right there and then, that he would do just that.

Lee felt a spasm of pain from his maimed left arm. The chaos had caused him to completely forget about blood loss being an issue, which it was. His makeshift bandage was soaked red, and every now and then, some would drip through. He began to look around for anything that could help, hoping that the scavengers from Crawford had been lazy and not looked as hard as they could've. Looking around, he found a still-locked cabinet behind the counter. Upon breaking into it, he was pleasantly surprised to find an unopened bottle of Peroxide, as well as a thick roll of gauze bandages. Upon further investigation, he found a lighter and a switchblade on a newly dead corpse lying outside of the store.

Lee examined his newfound loot in interest, knowing the pain he would have to endure to survive. Taking a deep breath, he poured peroxide onto a strip of gauze that he ripped off of the roll, and gingerly pressed it against his stump. "SHIT!" He screamed, before covering his mouth in horror. To muffle the screams that he would inevitable make, he decided to rip another strip of gauze off of the roll to stuff in his mouth, serving as a kind of gag. Lee then pressed the peroxide-infused bandage back up against his stump, causing him to emit a muffled howl of pain. However, as he continued to press the bandage onto the stump, the pain began to subside.

After he felt he had done a considerably decent job, he opened the lighter and flicked it on. Lee knew he needed to cauterize his injury to close the wound, but in all honesty, Lee was terrified. After a long moment of hesitation, Lee took a deep breath and shoved the lighter against his severed appendage, immediately causing Lee to scream as loud as he could (although it was muffled by his makeshift gag.). It was the worst pain that Lee had felt, EVER. He thought he was going to pass out from the pain, but Lee powered through the agony, which was worse than when his arm was amputated to begin with. After several long seconds, Lee pulled the lighter away from his now steaming wound, and leaned against the checkout counter. Lee sat like that for a while. Minutes? Hours? He couldn't really tell. The pain had caused him to zone out into his own private world. He was so unaware that if a walker had barged in, he wouldn't even notice until its teeth were in his neck. However, something that was relatively more pleasant brought him out of his stupor instead. The familiar sound of church bells in the distance brought a smile to his face. 'At least someone's okay.' Lee thought optimistically, glad that Molly was still okay since he last saw her. Lee then looked outside, noticing the sky had turned a beautiful purple and orange hue. 'Sunset already?' He wondered. He must have been in his stupor for quite a while.

Lee looked at his stump, which was now swollen with blisters, and grabbed the roll of gauze that lay next to him, quickly wrapping a thick layer of the fabric around his arm. He gazed at his now-treated injury, admiring his painful handiwork before he found a bathroom. Lee closed and locked the door, and to his delight found that there were no other points of entry. There were more pleasant places to spend the night, but it would have to do. With that, Lee leaned up against the door and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

"_Deborah honey, I don't feel to great, so I canceled class and…" Lee began, before widening his eyes at the sight in front of him. His wife, Deborah, was lying on their bed, buck-naked, sharing a kiss with a Caucasian who looked to be about Lee's height and age. He was also naked, and upon closer scrutiny, Lee identified him as a State Senator. _

_It was then that Deborah and the Senator noticed Lee, screaming in shock when they saw Lee standing at the door. "LEE! I-it's not what it looks like!" Deborah desperately shouted._

"_Why, Deb? Why would you do this?" Lee asked, his eyes becoming slightly reflective, before turning to his wife's "boyfriend', who was peeling his clothes back on, trying to avoid eye-contact with Lee. Lee noticed this, which only filled him with rage. The man didn't even have the decency to apologize. Seeing nothing but red, Lee charged at the man, raised his fist in the air, and…"_

Lee woke up, sweating profusely. Knowing he wasn't going to go back to sleep, Lee cracked open the door, noticing daylight stream in through the smashed windows. Having gotten a good night's sleep, combined with the treatment of his arm had resulted in Lee feeling much better than the previous day, and although he still missed Clementine, Lee bottled his feelings up, took a deep breath, and left the store, with clear intentions: leave Savannah as soon as possible.

* * *

Lee's eyes shot open to a loud growling sound directly to his left. He turned to see a plump, middle-aged woman banging on the window, fresh blood dripping from her teeth. Sighing, he took out his red-handled switchblade, opened the car door, and lodged the knife into the walker's left eyeball, which was now oozing disgusting fluids. Lee looted the corpse, but found nothing, and decided to check his inventory. He opened the door to the back-row of the rundown Sedan. Lee had about two week's worth of food left, more if he rationed it, three full canteens of water, along with a half-empty one. He also had his trusty meat cleaver, along with his switchblade and a Glock that had five bullets. He also noticed that he had a flashlight, some peroxide, and a few strips of gauze.

"Well then, I should probably get some more food. I don't want to have to ration too much." Lee said aloud. He had started doing that recently, as he felt that voicing his thoughts helped to make them clearer. Lee looked at the map he had acquired from a local gas station, which said he was in Shalimar, Florida, which was in southern Okaloosa County. With that, Lee walked down the road from last night's resting place, hoping to find somewhere to scavenge.

Lee was in luck. A few hundred yards away was a large office building. Or, it once was a large office building. There was blackened rubble above the first story, and scattered around the building, but the first floor was seemingly intact. Lee looked through the shattered glass door. He didn't hear anything, but looks could be deceiving. With that in mind, Lee smashed some of the remaining glass, and shouted, "Anybody home?"

Hearing raspy breaths, Lee raised his meat cleaver, and was greeted by a single walker, which crawled out of the office building, its innards hanging out of gash in its stomach, and it had a rather large chunk of metal debris sticking into it's left calf. Lee put the creature out of its misery by burying the blade in its cranium, pulling it out tinted red. Carefully stepping over the body, Lee quietly strolled inside, pulling out his flashlight, and shining it around in the darkness. After seeing nothing, he removed the backpack from his shoulders, and began to scour the building, finding a few cans of beans in a cabinet, as well as a bottle of water and a small package of D-batteries.

As he opened the backpack, he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with a faded chalk leaf rubbing on it. Lee sighed deeply; the last twelve months had been very hard. At first, he thought of nothing but his adoptive daughter. Lee eventually began to focus more on surviving, but Clementine's absence still left a hole in his heart. Her absence also took a toll on Lee's physical appearance. During the last year, Lee's hair had grown longer and more frazzled, and his beard had grown and thickened. Despite this, Lee did not completely neglect himself. He made sure that he had eaten and slept as much as he needed, was always careful on supply runs such as the one he was on right now.

Stepping over a corpse, Lee roamed back over to the entrance, satisfied with his find. However, he didn't notice the walker's head turn as he walked past it. He didn't notice it quietly crawl up to him, and he didn't notice it until it grabbed him by the ankle, attempting to sink its teeth into his flesh. "OH, SHIT!" Lee exclaimed, tripping and falling onto his rear end, his meat cleaver being knocked from his hand. "AHH" He shouted, managing to kick the walker off of him. He tried to crawl over to his knife, but the walker had gotten up and fallen on top of him like a lover. Lee desperately tried to wrench the creature off of him. He was able to repeatedly slam the walker's head into a nearby desk, staining it with crimson fluids.

Finally able to punch it off of him, he was surprised when it lunged on him immediately, gripping him by the shoulders and pulling its jaw towards Lee's neck. In an attempt to keep the walker off of him, Lee dug his hands into its eyeballs, causing him to remember a similar situation, when Ben's injured teacher had turned at the Motor Inn, and had tried to take a bite out of his neck. Lee found it odd that he was remembering the tragedies in Macon as the 'good old days', but he cherished every memory that included Clementine, even the time at the St. John's. However, unlike the situation at the Motor Inn, there was no Carley who was coming to save him. This was the end.

Just as the walker was about to rip into Lee's neck, a gunshot rang threw the air, a round powering straight through the walker's temple, killing it instantly. He pushed it off of him, only to be greeted by an unfamiliar face. It was a woman, who appeared to be of South Asian descent. "Come on, we have to go. My gunshot probably just drew everything nearby." The woman said, with what sounded like an Indian accent.

Lee was confused, but he understood her message. He nodded to show his understanding, and the woman helped him up. The duo quickly escaped through the maw of jagged glass, already noticing over two-dozen walkers crowding the street. "This way!" The woman shouted, as the two sprinted farther down the road, not stopping until they were short of breath, and the walkers were just blurry blobs of color down the road.

"You saved my life. Thank you." Lee said graciously. "I'd be a dead man if you hadn't shown up when you did."

"No problem." The woman replied. "No matter what people can do, I find that saving people is the only moral and logical thing to do. I would never be able to live with myself if someone's blood was on my hands."

"That's…quite kind of you." Lee replied. Lee was good at reading people, and from what he could see, this woman was one of the kindest people he could've had the fortune of coming across. "So…where are you headed? Do you have a group or something?"

"No, I can't say that I do." The stranger replied. "I've been on my own for…quite some time. Why, do you?"

"No." Lee replied. "I've been on my own for the past seven months or so."

"Anyway," The woman continued. "I'm headed up north, up to Michigan, I think."

"Michigan?" Lee asked. This woman had begun to intrigue him. "What's up there, besides snow and ice?"

"Well, yes." The woman chuckled. "The cold is actually supposed to slow the walkers down. But anyways, a few months ago, I met a bitten man. He was dying, just sitting against a tree on the side of the road. He told me that he was going to a place called Wellington, and that it is a big camp in the Michigan-Ohio region. I've been walking there for the past while. Anyway, since you don't have a group either, do you want to come with me? I mean, we are complete strangers, but I feel that I can trust you."

"Likewise." Lee replied, smiling for the first time in months. "And sure, I mean, I don't have anywhere else to go, so why not?"

"Okay then." The woman replied, "We are going to Wellington!"

The duo slowly trudged onwards for a few minutes, before Lee realized something. "Hey, I just realized something. We don't even know each other's names." Lee reminded her. "The name's Lee."

The woman grinned, and said, "Hello Lee. I am Sarita."

_**A/N: Yay! Lee is back, and had just met Sarita. I really hope that all of you enjoyed this chapter. There will be a few more Lee-centric chapters before this episode ends, so stay tuned! Feel free to ask me any question or to comment on this chapter in the review box. Anyways, ta-ta.**_

_**-ZombieSlayer995**_


	7. Bonding With Friends

**_A/N: ¡Hola! ZombieSlayer995 here, coming to you with another Lee-centric chapter! Anyway, first, I must answer everyone's reviews._**

**_Smeake:_********_Yeah, Lee's the best. I'm glad you're enjoying the story!_**

**_BillyZhao_****_: Agreed, to much time alone is bound to mess someone up, which I suppose can be seen in the Kenny/Jane standoff in "No Going Back". Anyway, I think that if you choose to amputate Lee's arm, then he dies of blood loss or infection, not from the bite. And as for your hopes for Lee and Sarita, you'll just have to read and see for yourself (though I probably won't ship them). BTW, you_**

**_don't have to PM me, you can post any questions/comments in the review box._**

**_Tactus501st:_********_Thanks man, that means a lot . I'm really happy that you like the story. After all, all that writers/authors want is for people to enjoy what they write._**

**_Leafs Nation_****_: I am not aiming for a Lee/Sarita romance. What I hope to achieve is a close, almost familial bond, like Rick and Michonne's friendship in the TV show. Speaking of the TV show, how shocked were you by last episode's gory deaths? Anyways, thanks for the review, it means a lot._**

**_Lee and Kenny_****_: Oh my god, your dialogues were hilarious, I really hope that you are enjoying the story, and feel free to post more dialogues in your reviews._**

**_Epic Hobo Chuck (Guest)_****_: Thanks for the review; I am really glad that so many people enjoy this story. As a matter of fact, I have read the fanfic Walking But Not Dead Yet, and I found it fairly enjoyable to read. Since you are reading Into the Fray, just know that there is a completed Season Two and a Season Three that is still underway. Other great fanfics include "ZombieGuy96's" No Going Back? saga, which is maybe my favorite series on the website besides The Walking Dead Season Three, written by "Drexbann15"._**

**_Santiago Poncini 20_****_: Maybe, you'll just have to keep reading to find out. Sorry, I just have had a strict 'no spoilers' policy after my friend told me about Luke's death in 'No Going Back'. Anyway, I hope you like the story._**

**_Magixben1124_****_: Sorry, but no, I don't intend to ship Lee and Sarita. However, they will have a very close friendship._**

**_BTW, I changed the time jump that occurred after Savannah from seven months to a year, and had him wind up in another location, Northwest Florida instead of South Carolina. If you want specifics, it is in the now updated last chapter._**

**_Anyway, here comes Chapter 7!_**

**Lee's POV**

It had been about two months since Lee had encountered Sarita, and in those two months his life had drastically improved. Being alone became unbearable at times, but he was no longer alone. Over the weeks, he had come to love Sarita like a sister, or at least as a very good friend. He was not as happy as he was during the Motor Inn's early days, but he was still a much more jovial person and it definitely showed. His hair and beard were being trimmed once more, and he had a better personality overall.

Lee and Sarita were walking along an old road, which, after a year of neglect, had become ridden with cracks and potholes, which caused them to trip slightly every once in a while. The two of them had been walking to Wellington for the past two months, and in that time, they had managed to get from Okaloosa County, Florida, into Iredell County, North Carolina. "Where are we now?" Sarita asked curiously, hoping that they were almost out of the Carolinas and into Virginia.

"I think we're nearing the end of the county." Lee replied, unfolding the heavily creased map in his hands. "Yep, according to the map, we've just passed into Yadkin County, meaning we're almost into Virginia. This journey ain't shit. If we don't have any more major setbacks, we can make it to Wellington in a few months, though we may want to hold out for the winter. Can't make it to Wellington if we die of hypothermia or frostbite."

"I agree." Sarita said. "We find a place that is defendable, and we ride the winter out there."

The two of them trudged on like that for a while, before the silence started to get to Lee. Ever since his year-long expanse of loneliness, Lee had been unable to stand silence for any period of time. "You know what Sarita? We've known each other for a few months, but we've never really gotten to know each other. What did you do before all this?" Lee asked, eager to learn more about his companion.

Sarita's face brightened up. "Well, up until about 2001, I lived in India. I was fairly poor, like most other people there, and I ran a small market with some fruits that I farmed. My father taught me English when I was a little girl; in India, English was just as prominent a language as Hindi." Lee nodded in interest, then gestured for her to continue. "I immigrated here just a few days after the…tragedy that occurred. In New York." Sarita added sadly. "Because of that, security was obviously very strict, but I got through, and for the past few years I've been serving as a flight attendant." She finished, fondly remembering the days before the world ended. "What about you?" Sarita inquired. Lee hadn't talked much about his past before the apocalypse, but he had talked about what came after, particularly Clementine, and the long year that he had spent alone.

Lee sighed, and began to tell his tale. "Before all this, I lived in Macon; it's an area in Georgia. Anyways, I was a history professor at University of Georgia for six whole years, but my family all worked at the drug store they ran." Lee said sadly, remembering his brother's corpse, a fresh, bloody notch in his temple. "I had a wife too, but we argued a lot. She traveled for work, but I wanted her to stay home, to start a family." Lee took a deep breath. He didn't want to talk about what he had done, but he knew that Sarita wouldn't judge him. Rather, she would understand, and sympathize with him. That was just in her nature. "I was going to class one day, but I felt sick, so I canceled and went home, only to find her in…in bed with someone else. The two of us fought and I…I…killed him." Lee said sorrowfully. Sarita's eyes were as large as quarters. However, soon her usual expression of sympathy appeared on her face. "I was on my way to jail when the police car hit a walker. We crashed, and I met Clementine shortly after. You know the rest." Lee uttered, looking ashamed, regretful, and sad all at once.

Sarita looked at him, her eyes meeting his own. "Lee, it's okay. What you did doesn't make you a bad man. You have saved my life so many times, and you are my friend. I know, you are a great man. Sarita said encouragingly.

Lee looked at Sarita, clearly appreciative of Sarita's kind words. "Thank you Sarita, you have no idea what that means." Lee said, beaming. The two trudged on slightly farther for a few more minutes, before turning to the food situation. "How are we doing on food?" He asked, knowing the answer was going to be bad.

"Not so good, I'm afraid." Sarita mumbled. "We have some cans of food and some protein bars, but it's not enough to last us more than a few weeks. We'll need to go on a supply run in a few days, or we'll starve, soon."

Lee sighed heavily, "I know what that feels like." He said, thinking of the days at the Motor Inn around the time the St. Johns arrived. Despite his open discontent with the group's decision to steal supplies, he knew that they needed them. He only said no because he knew that Clementine didn't want any part in stealing supplies from anywhere, even an abandoned station wagon.

Sarita looked at him with pity, "Me too. Remember me telling you about my first group that lived at an elementary school?" When Lee nodded, Sarita continued on. "Back then, no one knew that guns drew the dead, it was so early on, and it just wasn't common knowledge. Because of the guards wildly shooting their guns, a herd came right up to our doorstep, and they trapped us. Slowly but surely, we ran out of food, and we all just had to run. I don't know how I made it through the herd, but I think I was the only one. We all agreed to spread out and run, but I didn't see anyone get out. I only heard…screams of agony as my friends were…" Sarita couldn't continue on, as she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes.

"Sarita, it's okay. We all have stuff we want to forget about." Lee assured her, patting her on the shoulder. "Anyways, we should probably go scavenge…" Lee paused, seeing something out of the corner of his eye. Something blue and wet. Motioning his hand for Sarita to stop, Lee trekked over to a nearby oak tree, which had a small wooden plank nailed to it. However, the plank wasn't the interesting part. Scribbled across the plank in what looked to be finger-painting was a message.

"What does it say?", Sarita asked. "Is it just one of those graffiti signs?

"_'__Avoid the mall at all costs,'" _Lee read. "Sarita, what mall do you think this person is talking about?"

Sarita shook her head in confusion. "North Carolina has plenty of malls. Whoever this person is, they could be referring to any of them." Sarita suddenly looked past the tree, and fixed her gaze on something in the distance. "Walker," she shouted, quickly retrieving her hatchet. Cautiously approaching the walker, Sarita swung the hatched forwards into the walker's forehead, splitting its entire face in half.

Lee caught up to Sarita and began to examine the walker. It was a tall male, wearing a torn t-shirt reading, 'The Rolling Stones'. However, there were two interesting things about the walker. For one, the creature was practically shredded to pieces, with bullet holes having punctured every part of its body besides the head. _What a terrible way to die_. Then, Lee looked at its fingers, and widened his eyes in shock.

The walker's fingernails were coated with wet blue paint.

Lee's blood ran cold. The paint and the bullet holes were relatively recent, meaning that whoever had done this was still in the area. _Maybe at their mall_. "Sarita, are you thinking what I'm thinking?".

Sarita worriedly replied, "We should probably keep our guard up. Either way though, it looks like whoever did this has already left."

Suddenly, a loud noise pierced his ears. _**BOOOOM** _"What the hell was that Sarita? It sounded like a damn grenade! Do you think it was the people who did this?" Lee inquired.

"We should go check it out. It could be someone in trouble." Sarita said, pulling her hatchet out of her waistband, gazing at a trail of smoke materializing in the sky. Lee and Sarita ran through the trees, following the pillar of smoke until they reached a small road, with the blackened remains of a car in the center of the road, with bits and pieces of both walkers and humans scattered along the road and the trees.

Lee looked around in disgust, before hearing a masculine scream. "HELP! HELP ME!" Lee's eyes darted around until he noticed a man lying on the ground, with the charred upper body of a walker gripping his leg, which was dripping with blood.

Lee knew the risks of saving this man, but his conscience took over, and he whipped out Carley's old pistol, taking the top off of the walker's cranium, sending brain tissues all over the asphalt. Lee was now able to get a good look at the man. He was Caucasian, and in his late twenties. The blood Lee had previously seen running down his leg was due to a shard of steel embedded in his lower calf, presumably from the destroyed car. With brown hair, hazel eyes, muscular build, and a dusting of stubble along his chin and cheeks, the man looked fairly imposing in his blue denim jeans and pale green zip-up sweatshirt. "You saved my life." The man said in awe. "You don't even know me, but you saved me."

Lee nodded grimly, as Sarita walked over to the man to inspect his leg. "Wait." Lee warned. "He might not be your average survivor. For all we know he's a bandit, or a cannibal or something."

"Dude, I promise you, I am not some psychopath. I was just out here with a few of my friends." The man desperately assured him, before gripping his leg in pain. Lee studied the man for a while. Until he met the St. John's, Lee thought he was good at reading people. However, from what he could tell, the man was telling the truth.

"How'd your car explode?" Lee asked, wanting to know more about the situation before he dived into it headfirst.

"Can you treat my leg first, dude? I promise, you can do whatever you want with me after, but please, help me." Lee continued to look at the man, until he sighed and began to tell his tale. "Me and three of my friends were driving to a nearby mall to scavenge for supplies. I think we're about halfway there now, but…" The man stopped and moaned in agony, closing his eyes tightly. "Anyways, we got a flat tire on a pothole, and some eaters got the jump on us when we were inspecting the tire. We started shooting them, but one of the bullets must have ignited the gas and caused the explosion." The man closed his eyes again, but in sadness rather than pain. "Anthony, Lisa, Jorge…they're gone." The man stated, shedding a tear as he gestured to the scattered bits of bodies lying around them. He then stared at Lee with a look of sorrow, impatience, and pain on his face. "Can you guys fix my leg now?" He asked.

Lee stared at the man for a few seconds before glancing at Sarita and nodding. At some point during or before the apocalypse, she must have learned first-aid, because she seemed to know what she was doing. Unbuckling the man's belt, she wound a tight knot around the man's leg before quickly yanking the shrapnel out, causing the man to groan in agony. "Lee, do you still have that peroxide?"

"Yeah. Here you go Sarita." The former professor replied, placing the near-empty bottle in her hand. Sarita took it graciously, before pouring some onto a strip of putting it on the man's leg. He howled in pain before Lee put his one good hand over the man's mouth to silence his screams. Once she removed the strip of gauze, Sarita looked at the wound before she took a needle and thread and began to stitch the injury shut, causing the man's eyes to water with agony. To finish the job, Sarita wrapped the strip of gauze around his leg, effectively sealing the wound.

"Thank you…so much." The man said gratefully. "You guys can just leave me now. I'll be fine."

Lee looked deep into the man's eyes. "Can I trust you?" He asked.

Without any hesitation, the man instantly replied, "Yes."

"Okay then, that's good enough for me. I've met enough psychos to know sane people from insane ones." Lee told him. "Sarita, do you agree? Should we take him with us?" He asked.

"I believe we should." Sarita replied. "It's the right thing to do." Sarita wiped her hands on her jacket, and turned her back on the two men so that she could keep watch. Lee walked over to the injured man and helped him to his feet.

"You get bit?" The man asked, although it felt more like a statement. "My buddy, Anthony, had his entire right arm amputated about a month into all this shit. He survived the bite, but in the end, guess it didn't save him forever." The man uttered sadly. "Anyways, if we're gonna be traveling together, we should know each other's names. I'm Jason, and judging from your discussions, I'm gonna say that you're Lee, and she's Sarita." Jason said, nodding his head in Sarita's direction.

"Right you are." Lee answered, nodding his head. "We should scavenge the remains of the truck for anything useful. " Jason nodded his head in agreement, and inspected the area around the car for anything.

Jason limped over to a mutilated corpse with a bloody cranium and shoved it over, revealing a shining revolver in it's cold, dead fingers. "Rest in peace, Jorge." He said sorrowfully, prying the weapon from his friend's grip.

Lee was able to find a few cans of apples and peaches in the rubble, which he stored in his backpack. "Sarita!" He shouted.

The Indian woman turned, still clutching her hatchet in her right hand, "We're running low on supplies." Lee exclaimed, "With three people, we'll run out of our already limited food supply in less than a week, maybe two if we ration. We need to forage for supplies before we can continue going north."

"I think I know where we can scavenge! There's a mall not far from here that the three of us could check out. Me and my friends were heading there when…" He trailed off sadly. "Anyway, it may be looted, but there's always the chance that we'll find something, anything, that can be useful. And the best part, it's only about a day's walk from here, according to this map." Jason proclaimed, waving Lee's map in his hand.

Lee and Sarita exchanged glances. The sign had clearly warned them against going to the mall, and he knew it probably wasn't wise. However, they would run out of food soon, and this mall was their best bet of finding supplies.

"That sounds like a good plan." Sarita agreed. "But we should definitely keep our guard up. We don't know what, or who, is in there."

"Got it doc'." Jason said jokingly. He turned to Lee, before asking, "Hey, man, you agree with the plan?"

Lee looked around at his two companions, one old, and one new, before declaring, "Let's go shopping!"

**_A/N: And that was chapter seven! I hope you understand why I added Jason, and created this pre-Ski Lodge storyline. There's no way that both Kenny and Lee would wander down the same exact paths, go the same exact direction, so I am altering the storyline to develop the characters more, and to add an OC, Jason. Do you think he is trustworthy? What do you think will await them at the mall? If you like the story/chapter, feel free to favorite, follow, or _****_review_****_. Anyways, stay tuned for what I think will be either the last or second-to-last chapter of the episode. ¡Adios!_**

**_-ZombieSlayer995_**


	8. Let's Go Shopping

**_A/N: Hey everyone, ZombieSlayer995 coming to you with the newest chapter of "A Change of Fate." First off, I want to say thanks to all 20 people who voted at the poll, so thanks so much. I'm glad that some of you reassured me by saying that the previous chapter wasn't bad, but you didn't have time to review. Anyways, the results are…_**

**_Lilly: 7_**

**_Kenny: 7_**

**_Molly: 4_**

**_Christa: 3_**

**_I cannot believe how many people reviewed and voted, it means so much. Anyways, I plan to incorporate at least three of the four characters into this story and the possible sequel. If I do decide to make a sequel, two of the characters will appear then, but I know that one of these characters will make an appearance at the end of the story. And also…_**

**_Ravens and Crows of Darquesse_****_: I'm really glad that you like the story! Thanks for the advice. I will try to follow through with your request in making the paragraphs more descriptive. I hope you continue to enjoy the story._**

**_ONTO THE STORY!_**

**Lee's POV**

The trio had been walking along the roadside for the past two hours, and the sun was almost directly above their heads. Lee was supporting Jason, even though he only had one arm, he let his newfound comrade use him for support. The crisp winter air caused Lee to shiver underneath his old blue button-down. Lee remembered loving winter before the dead began to rise. Him and his wife would always go down to the nearby park and gaze at the beauty of the snowy landscape together.

As they continued to walk along the road, Lee noticed ravens picking at something next to a rundown car. As they approached, the birds flew away, and he noticed that they were picking away at a human torso that had no limbs or head attached. Lee quickly averted his eyes in disgust, his nose wrinkling from the horrific scent. 'Poor bastard.' He thought.

After a few minutes, Lee turned to Jason. "Hey, Jason? How much further?" Lee inquired, hopeful that they would find a fair amount of supplies at this "Hanes Mall". It was supposedly east of where they had found Jason, and was less than a day's walk away.

"Shouldn't be much further." Jason said, still downtrodden about his friends' fates. "Couple hours, tops. It'll all be worth it once we get all that shit, dude. We should probably scavenge some winter clothes there, and maybe even hold out for the winter there. If this 'Wellington' place that y'all are talking 'bout is real, then we'll freeze to death before we can make it there, unless we somehow are lucky enough to find a working car and some fuel."

Lee nodded in agreement. "Agreed, that's probably the best course of action, especially considering how far we are from Wellington. You agree Sarita?"

Sarita, who was walking slightly ahead of the two, looked backwards and replied, "Yes. We'll freeze to death if we're out in the cold for too long. We should spend a few months there, if possible, and then we continue our march north. I just hope that we can find some jackets at this mall." Upon closer examination, Lee saw that Sarita was constantly shivering. They would need to find some winter clothes at the mall, for everybody's sakes.

Despite the harsh winter air, Lee was sweating. They had been walking for hours on end through the cold without any winter clothing. He turned to Sarita, and stated, "We should probably take a quick breather; we're all tired, and besides, I think Jason's leg isn't feeling so great."

Sarita turned to examine Jason. Noting his pale, sweaty complexion, then eyed his blood soaked bandage, Sarita nodded, "It's probably for the best. We should all relax for a few minutes before continuing this journey." Noticing an abandoned pickup truck, Sarita continued, "Jason, you should rest in the truck bed, you'll need to lie down with that leg the way it is."

Hearing this, Lee and Jason stumble-walked over to the truck bed, where Lee laid Jason out on his back, with a moan of relief instantly leaving Jason's lips. Lee leaned against the truck bed, and asked, "You okay, man? You don't look too good."

"No fucking shit, Sherlock." Jason muttered angrily, "My leg got fucking impaled by a piece of my own goddamn car, and all my friends are…" Jason trailed off, gazing at the road behind them. He sighed. "I'm sorry, dude. It's just…well, I'm not exactly having the best day."

"I hear you, Jason. It's fine, no need to apologize." Lee replied, "I just hope we can get to this mall quickly, we need to find some food. Winter clothes too."

"If all goes well, we'll find plenty of that shit at the mall, plus some other stuff too." Jason murmured. "And also, I know I've said this a hundred times, but thank you for saving my life. I am in your debt until I find some way to repay you and Sarita."

Lee was about to reply, but Sarita entered the discussion. "It's fine, Jason. Really, you don't have to do that. It's—.

"No, I never forget a debt." Jason interjected, "I will repay you. I just…don't know how...yet." Jason ran his hand through his hair, before pulling his hood over his head to staunch the frigid air that was assaulting his neck and ears. "Anyways, we should probably get moving. At this rate, the mall should only be a couple hours from here.

"Yeah, it's probably best we get moving. We don't want to get stuck out here for too long." Lee agreed. "Let's go." With that, Lee hoisted Jason to his feet. Although Jason emitted a grunt of pain once his feet made contact with the asphalt, he remained standing, and tightly gripped Lee's shoulder.

Sarita looked at Jason worriedly. "If you need to stop again, just let me know, and I can try to tend to it." Sarita said compassionately. It was in her nature to be maternal and caring towards anyone, even people that she met mere hours before.

Jason let out a smile. "Thank you. Thank you both." He told them, before staring at the road, which had a light layer of snow blanketing it. "Let's go." The trio then began to slowly trudge onwards.

* * *

_Three hours later_

Lee's feet ached. After two more hours of walking, he was sweating once more, and Jason was having trouble walking. "We shouldn't be that far now. Sarita, can you check the map." Lee asked.

Sarita obeyed her friend, and unfolded the map. Her eyes widened. "Lee, Jason. We are much closer than any of us thought." She stated excitedly, as the trio turned onto 'Silas Creek Parkway'. " In fact, it should be on this very road!" Even Jason smiled at hearing this news.

The trio walked for about two more miles, passing rundown car after rundown car, before seeing the mall dead ahead: a multi-story complex with a brick and plaster exterior, and a large green 'H' hanging over the main entrance. At least, that's where it was supposed to go. In actuality, the 'H' was lying on the sidewalk, splattered with blood. As they approached, Lee noticed that the 'H' was being used in a sentence, with the rest of the words painted in what looked to be blood. "**H**e has forsaken us and left us in the hands of Satan." Lee read aloud. He had never been much of a religious man, but he got the gist of the message.

Looking up at the remainder of the sign, Lee was horrified to see walkers dangling by their hands. From the looks of it, there hands had been drilled into the sign, something so gruesome that Lee could hardly bear to imagine it.

Looking nervously at the others, Sarita pulled out her pistol and stepped over the bloody message and through the defunct automatic doors, which had shattered, grinning in excitement.

Lee muttered, "Okay, we have to be very quiet. Could be that someone's here. We should probably get in and out with as much as we can, quickly." After hearing this, Sarita and Jason trotted over to him, and noticed spray-painted arrows on the wall.

Lee walked up to one of the arrows, which pointed to the left, and noticed words above it. "Abercrombie and Fitch, this way." Lee grinned.

The trio began to follow the arrow before Jason pointed out another arrow. "That one says it leads to Dick's." Jason said. "There could be tons of shit there y'all, from guns to energy drinks to melee weapons. Sarita should head there, while the two of us get some jackets at Abercrombie."

Sarita said, "Good idea. I'll try to scavenge what I can from Dick's, although most of the guns are probably taken. You two should get us some winter clothing. Just…be careful. Please."

Lee looked at Sarita sympathetically. "Of course we will Sarita. None of us will be alone again. You be careful too." He told her, before telling her, "We regroup at the entrance in thirty minutes. If one of us doesn't show, then we know something's up." With that, the three parted ways, with Sarita going right, and Jason and Lee going left.

"AGGHH!" Jason shouted, putting too much pressure on his injured leg. He promptly fell to the ground, moaning in agony, clutching his injured limb. Lee leaned down to inspect Jason's leg, only to receive an angry, "I'm fucking fine, man. Just help me the fuck up and let's get a goddamn move-on." Lee was slightly taken aback by this, but he understood why Jason was acting like this. No one would act like themselves after losing all of their friends. With this in mind, Lee helped Jason to his feet, and they continued to follow the arrows, staggering like a three-legged racer through the deserted hallways.

After a few minutes, the duo found themselves in front of the clothing store. "We should get some winter clothes for the three of us. Jackets, gloves, hats, whatever we can carry." Lee told his comrade. Jason nodded in agreement, and they trudged into the store. Suddenly, something felt off. "Whoah!" Lee shouted, slipping on the tile floor, which was slick with blood. Eerily reminded of Clementine's house, he muttered a quick, "Sorry, man." and helped Jason to his feet, who was gritting his teeth in agony, his eyes tightly shut. Lee shuffled towards the end of the blood trail, wondering where it led to.

In a matter of seconds, he had found it. A deer was lying behind the checkout counter, its intestines hanging out of it's stomach as a walker continued to tear into its neck, blissfully unaware of the humans surrounding it. The walker still had a store uniform on, along with a nametag with the name 'Dave' typed onto it, implying that this man had not lasted a very long time. Without any notice, Jason broke free of former teacher's grip, and lunged onto the walker, before slamming his fist into its face multiple times. "YOU! UNDEAD! FUCKERS! KILLED! MY! FRIENDS!" Jason bellowed, continuing to punch it long after it had truly died.

"Jason." Lee said. Jason either didn't hear him, or was ignoring him. "JASON!" He shouted.

"What?" Jason replied, fury still coursing through his veins. It was then when Jason seemed to realize what he was doing to the fresh, bloody corpse on the ground. His eyes seemed to enlarge in shock, and he fell onto his backside as he began to crawl away from his handiwork. "...I…I think I'm losing it man." He said shakily. "After what happened earlier, I…" Jason began, before sighing deeply. Lee extended his remaining hand to Jason, which he accepted, and used to hoist himself up. Lee saw Jason's eyes go slightly reflective, before he wiped them vigorously and half-jokingly uttered, "Let's go shopping."

Lee scouted the aisles. Not seeing any danger, he browsed one of the aisles containing jackets, and was pleased to come across a black leather one. Lee instantly grabbed it, put it on, and zipped it up, instantly feeling warmth spread to his body. It felt slightly odd on his left arm, due to the fact that it was just hanging from the elbow-down, but he decided that he would find some way to make it seem less awkward later.

After some more browsing, he was pleased to find a large pair of gloves, which seemed to have a black hue. Satisfied with his find, he called out, "Jason?" No response. "Jason." Again, no answer met Lee's ears. His eyes widened, as he began to run to where he had last seen Jason: the checkout counter. Thankfully, he was able to follow Jason's muddy footprints to another aisle on the other side of the store, where he found him sitting against the wall, trying on a dark blue winter jacket. "Jason, why didn't you respond, man?"

Jason looked confused, "To what?" Jason inquired curiously.

"I called out to you, man, and you didn't answer." Lee replied, raising his eyebrow.

"Oh, my bad. I didn't here you, I was just busy dealing with this son a' bitch." Jason apologized, gesturing to his left, where his eyes were greeted by a rotted corpse, which had Lee's old switchblade stuck up through its chin and into its brain.

"So…what happened back there at the checkout?" Lee asked. He didn't want grief and anger to consume his new friend.

Jason's eyes wandered for a while before they stared at a specific point on the tiles in front of him. "I think…I think it was me." Jason said, his eyes tearing up.

"You think what was you?" Lee wondered. It took him a while to remember, but the memory came to him. Jason had said that him and his friends were shooting walkers, and in the chaos, someone had shot the gas tank. So Jason thought…

"I was the one who ignited the gas tank. I just know I did. I'm…I'm responsible for the deaths of all my friends. I…" Jason began to break down, crying right there on the floor. "I killed them…I KILLED THEM!" He sobbed relentlessly, putting his hands over his eyes. Lee was shocked by this, as in the brief time that he had known Jason, he had thought of him to be more-or-less the 'tough guy' who refused to cry. "That's why I killed that walker the way I did. I was just so angry, and I...I needed to take it out on something."

Lee couldn't pretend he knew what this man was going through, but he could help him. "It's okay man. It's okay. " Lee said warmly, putting his hand on Jason's shoulder.

It took a few minutes, but Jason was finally able to calm down. He wiped his eyes, before he picked up a turquoise jacket off of the rack. "Sarita might want something." Jason reasoned, stuffing it into his backpack.

Lee nodded in agreement. The two began to walk towards the exit, with Lee supporting Jason. Lee stated, "Okay, let's see what…" Lee trailed off, staring wide-eyed at what lay in front of them, fear dawning on his face.

In front of them was a man. He was wearing blue jeans and a leather jacket, and he had long red hair that was pulled back into a mullet. A thick red beard adorned his entire lower face and chin, and he was wearing a ripped ski mask, which only covered his scalp, eyes, and upper nose. However, it wasn't this man's intimidating appearance that scared him. Rather, it was the M14 rifle that the man had pointed at Lee's chest. "Hands in the air, and don't fucking move." The man advised.

**_A/N: And that was my eighth chapter of this story, and I cannot believe how much attention this story has received. I am sorry to inform all of you that updates may become more infrequent for a while due to school…sorry. Anyways, reviews really help to motivate me, so even a small review would be great. The next chapter will feature two POV's: Lee's and Sarita's. Also, I hope that everyone likes my OC, Jason. Right now, he is acting the way he is because he is angry and grieving, meaning he is going through a phase similar to Sasha's and Tyreese's in the TV show, and Kenny in the game. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the cliffhanger, and stay tuned for what I think will be the last chapter of the episode, "No Time Remaining." Thanks for reading!_**

**Original text**

Contribute a better translation


	9. You Kill Or You Die

**_A/N: Hey guys, this is ZombieSlayer995 with the finale of episode one, "No Time Remaining." First off, here is the mass author's note._**

**_Smeake_****_: I'm glad that you enjoyed last chapter. As for the returning characters, the characters that do reappear will (spoiler) appear much later. Sorry, I hope you can wait that long._**

**_Tactus501st_****_: I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter. I know, cliffhangers can be a pain in the ass (try reading the "Into the Fray" series. I had followed/favorited all three seasons, and there are so many evil cliffhangers!), but they really add to the suspense and thrill of the story._**

**_Thelastsoul232_****_: I'm glad that you like Jason; after all, he is my first OC. Also, I'm happy to hear how well he fits into the story. That being said, there definitely will be a Clem/Lee reunion. After all, the plot of this story is really a combination of Season Two and improv, and there simply can't be a Season Two without Clementine._**

**_Epic Hobo Chuck_****_: Thanks for the kind review. And yes, I remember Ivan. These bandits will be bad, but they will be different from Ivan from "Into The Fray", especially considering that while Ivan was a violent sociopath, he still had (sort of) justifiable reasons for what he did (I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it.) As for the other seasons, Season Two was probably my favorite. Seasons One and Three are great too though. Even though most of Season Three has generally been buildup for the last two-three episodes, the first three were still excellent. If you haven't read Season Three yet, you should, as it is very good so far, particularly episodes one and four, along with their cliffhangers and insane plot twists. _**

**_Leafs Nation_****_: No, the bandit is not Randy XD, but I can see why you thought that due to the red hair. And yeah, due to past events at Savannah and the motor inn, he does know how to keep the peace. I'm happy that you enjoyed last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one as well._**

**_Santiago Poncini 20_****_: I'm happy to see that most people, you included, like Jason. I hope you enjoy the chapter._**

**_Ravens and Crows of Darquesse:_********_I'm glad that you like Jason. As for grammar errors, I'll try to get around to fixing them. Thanks for pointing them out._**

**_Now, before I start writing, I want to list some fun facts._**

**_Fun Fact 1: The bandit was originally supposed to be blonde, but I decided that it would make him seem too much like Wyatt._**

**_Fun Fact 2: Jason was not originally going to be in the story. Rather, he was a last minute addition so that some future events could be changed._**

**_Fun Fact 3: I did not originally plan for Jason to act this way, but Epic Hobo Chuck made me realize that Jason would be very reckless and angry._**

**_PS: Chapter is rated M._**

**_Now…LET THE STORY COMMENCE!_**

**Lee's POV **

Lee gazed at the redheaded bandit in fear. 'Why was he always the one with the gun pointed at him', Lee thought. Lee slowly raised his one and a half arms until they were in the air.

The bandit smirked when he saw Lee do this. Then he turned to Jason, whom Lee was supporting due to his injured leg. He stated, "Hey, dead-leg! Hands up, or I'll blow your mother- fuckin' brains all over your pal!" His voice sounded fairly gravelly, and he reminded Lee of the Save-Lot bandits who destroyed the motor inn.

Jason didn't respond to this statement, but his eyes narrowed. Lee knew that look. Jason had they same look on his face when he brutally beat the walker at the checkout. "AHHHHH!", Jason screamed in defiance. He was able to break loose from Lee's grip and lunge at the bandit, switchblade in hand. However, just as the switchblade was about to collide with the man's chest, the bandit slammed the stock of the rifle into Jason's forehead, causing him to fall down in pain. "FUCKING FUCK!" Jason bellowed in pain, clutching his face, which was already bruising.

Lee was about to run to Jason's aid, but when the bandit aimed the gun at Lee's face, he stopped himself. After a few seconds, Jason was able to get up by himself, and he promptly limped over to Lee, who began to support him once more. "Why are you doing this man?", Lee asked, "Just leave us the fuck alone!"

"Why? Why? 'Cause you crossed into our goddamn turf! This ain't no 'free country' like it used to be! This is a world where we claim our land, and take shit from the people who enter it!" The bandit hollered in his gravelly southern accent, "But…what I do to y'all ain't up to me. C'mon, this way." He said, waving his gun in the general direction. Lee looked up at the gun pointed at his forehead, and followed the man's orders, stumble-walking with Jason out of the Abercrombie store. He instantly began to think of any possible way to escape this situation. He thought about calling for Sarita, but that would probably result in the deaths of all three of them. No, it was better that this bandit didn't know that they had a third person with them. It had been around thirty minutes now, so she'd probably realize that they ran into some trouble. The bandit then led them into the main atrium of the mall, and gestured to a staircase. "Go up. Now." He ordered. It was difficult, walking up stairs while completely supporting an injured man, but they were able to make it up the stairs. Once up, they noticed a Dillard's department store with wood and metal barricade topped with barbed wire. The redheaded bandit approached the door and knocked three times. "Hey, guys. Let me in." He said.

Suddenly, a deep, masculine voice replied through the large barricade. "Goddamnit, it's Corey.", the man stated, seemingly irritated. "Yo, Corey! Don't you fuckin' remember? Boss said you ain't allowed back until you come back with some good shit! Get that through your goddamn skull, shit-for-brains!" The man's voice resonated throughout the atrium, and Lee hoped that Sarita would hear this and come to their aid.

"I got some people, man. Two of 'em. They have big-ass backpacks, and they was foraging for shit in the Abercrombie store downstairs. So god-fucking-damn you Henry, let me the fuck in or I will blow your ass away! "The redheaded bandit named 'Corey' shouted furiously.

Suddenly, there was a loud creaking noise, and part of the barricade was pushed forwards. "C'mon!" Corey said impatiently, pointing his rifle at Lee and Jason. Seeing no other choice, the duo shuffled into the store, only to be pushed to the ground.

Lee looked up to see Corey and two other bandits standing over them. One of them was African-American, and had a buzz-cut. The other one was a Caucasian with several piercings. Grinning smugly, Corey took Lee's switchblade and embedded it in Lee's stump. Lee screamed in agony, but that only caused Corey to widen his grin. The African-American man stomped on Jason's wounded leg tearing his stitches and shedding blood. However, Lee also noticed another bandit in the corner, looking on in horror. He clearly did not like what was happening.

The beating only stopped when a deep, faraway voice bellowed, "STOP!" The owner of this voice must have been the bandit leader, because the bandits instantly stood up straight and saluted to him. The man was Caucasian, presumably in his mid-thirties. He had wavy brown hair that went down to his chin, along with a thick goatee. Like Corey and one of the other bandits, the man had a ski mask that ended at the nose. In his hand was a .44 Magnum with a knife attached to the under-barrel. He was also wearing a leather jacket with dark blue jeans. "Is that any way to treat our guests?" the man inquired. It was then that Lee looked into the man's eyes. They were dark brown, and they had a psychotic glint in them, like someone who should be in an insane asylum. "Tie them up." The bandit leader uttered.

Lee's hand was pulled away from his bleeding stump of an arm, and zip tied to a broken pipe that was extruding from the wall, and Jason's hands were tied around a coat rack. Lee's eyes wandered around the store, and he was amazed by what he saw. Near a rack of handbags in the back of the room was what looked to be a mountain of food, as well as several guns, weapons, and other supplies. "HEY!" A bandit shouted, punching Lee in the face. "Pay attention", the bandit warned.

The bandit leader looked directly at Lee. "Now, before what happens next, we should get to know each other a little better. I'm Lazarus, the leader of our little group. This is Henry." Lazarus said, gesturing to the African-American in the plaid shirt who had previously beaten Jason, "This is Paolo." Lazarus continued, nodding towards a Caucasian with a beanie and a denim jacket. Lee also remembered that Paolo had not taken part in beating him and Jason. "That's Jeffery." Lazarus stated, pointing at another Caucasian, who had ear piercings, a grey jacket, and a ripped ski mask. He was also the one who had previously punched Lee in the face, "And I believe you already know Corey here." Lazarus said. "Now, what are your names?"

Neither Lee nor Jason gave him the luxury of a response. It wasn't until Henry aimed a twelve-gauge shotgun at Jason's head that Lee replied, "I'm Lee, and this is Jason."

Lazarus smirked. "Lee and Jason. Lee and Jason.", he said, rolling the names off his tongue. "Now that we have formalities out of the way, we should talk business. Fellow marauders, what should we do with these two trespassers?" Lazarus asked. No one responded. Lazarus didn't seem to care though, and he continued. "Well then, I say we torture 'n kill them. It's what we've always done, and besides, it's fun. Anyone opposed?"

When nobody answered, Lazarus began to continue his rant. "Anyway, before we beat the fuck outta you, I feel we should explain ourselves. You see, there's one thing that has stayed the same since before this shitstorm hit: if you claim something, no one else is entitled to it. We claimed this here mall a long time ago, and you two are nothing but trespassers."

"Before the world ended, trespassers would've been charged with…what? Breaking and entering? That would've probably put that person in prison for a good while, teach them a lesson, then send them on their merry fucking way. But that's not how shit works anymore. Imprisoning you, forcing you out…these would just be half measures. They don't keep you from coming back, and they definitely don't provide a severe 'nough punishment." Lazarus patted Lee on the shoulder. "I hope y'all can understand that."

"FUCK YOU! YOU CRAZY FUCK! I AM GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS INTO THE GROUND! I WILL—" Jason didn't get the chance to finish, because Lazarus had kicked him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Jason let out a gasp, curling into a fetal position as he grasped his wounded stomach. He began to desperately retch as Lazarus laid punches and kicks on his head, chest, and stomach.

"NOBODY FUCKIN' TALKS TO ME LIKE THAT! YOU HEAR?!" Lazarus hollered. Three of the other bandits smiled sadistically as Lazarus continued to beat on Jason, but Paolo looked on with a mixture of sadness and horror. It seemed that Paolo had at least a shred of morality in him. However, he was doing nothing, which, in Lee's eyes, made him as bad as the others.

"LAZARUS!" Lee yelled, "You don't have to do this. Please." Lee looked at the bruised and bloody Jason, who was fiddling behind his back. Lee had no idea what he was doing, but either way, Lee needed to stop Lazarus.

"Shut. The fuck. Up." Lazarus uttered, glaring at Lee. He pulled out his bayonet-revolver and lightly pressed it against Lee's shoulder. It wasn't enough pressure to do any serious damage, but it caused a thin trickle of blood to ooze out of his shoulder. "Listen, Lee. Unlike your pal here, you seem like a pretty straight-up guy. You have manners, at least. I'm going to kill you anyway, but please, don't make me do it prematurely." Lazarus removed his pistol from Lee's shoulder and gave Lee a quick grin. _This man is psychotic_. "Well, I gotta get back to it," Lazarus cheerfully proclaimed. The bandit turned back towards Jason and leveled his revolver with Jason's chest while simultaneously clicking the safety off. His finger was moving toward the trigger when someone pulled the barrel of the gun away from Jason.

Paolo let go of his leader's pistol. "Stop it." Paolo ordered, getting in between him and Jason. "He's had enough." Paolo's legs were shaking, but Lee found himself admiring the man. However, Lee also found himself terrified for him. If Lazarus had beaten an outsider for insulting him, then what would happen to a group member who defied him?

"Did you just give me an order?" Lazarus asked, his voice steely calm. When Paolo didn't reply, Lazarus explained, "Two years ago, ordering about your superior was never wise. You'd be remembered as the office douchebag, considered to be disrespectful, and maybe even get fired. However, here and now, in my house, disrespecting Lazarus Jesse Daniels is considered treason." Paolo weakly nodded, his eyes widening in terror. Lazarus narrowed his eyes, elevating his gun until it was level with Paolo's head.

Paolo himself stood quivering, and closed his eyes as tight as he could. "Just fucking do it man." Paolo pleaded.

The two of them stood like that for nearly half a minute in complete silence until a grin crossed Lazarus's face. He began to laugh uncontrollably, lowering the gun from Paolo's face as he doubled over in laughter. After several seconds, Paolo began to nervously laugh as well, slowly becoming genuine as he too bent over in laughter.

The laughter went on for over half a minute, and it seemed like it was never going to stop. Lazarus wiped his eyes, and with no warning, Lazarus's laughter died, and he jabbed the blade of his altered .44 Magnum into Paolo's chest.

Paolo gasped, desperately trying to breathe as his laughter was replaced with desperate gurgling noises. Lazarus shoved him to the ground, and he proceeded to stab him viciously, causing blood to fly everywhere. "NO! ONE! GIVES! ME! ORDERS!" Lazarus bellowed, continuing to stab Paolo in his chest and stomach long after he had died. Finally, after Paolo's chest was more holes than skin, Lazarus preemptively ended Paolo's life as a walker by stabbing him through the eye.

Everyone in the room was dumbstruck except for Corey and Jeffery, who were both eagerly watching the scene unfold. A terrifying silence filled the room until suddenly, Lazarus resumed his laughter, cackling like the madman over the corpse of his former henchman.

"Henry, go get a mop, clean up this goddamn mess." Lazarus ordered, still giddily laughing. Henry hurried off, seemingly terrified of his leader. "Jeffery, carry this shit-stain out to the atrium. Don't want him stinking up the place." Jeffery flashed his leader a grin and a nod, walked over to Paolo's corpse, threw it over his shoulder, and walked out of the store.

After about five minutes, Henry came back with a mop and a bucket of water.

"I got it sir." Henry said nervously, and he proceeded to mop up the mess. He swished the mop back and forth, causing the red floor to revert back to its normal white. He was just finishing up when a loud, ***_BOOM!*_** echoed through the hallway, and torrents of fresh blood once again began to coat the floors.

* * *

_Thirty-Five Minutes Earlier_

**Sarita's POV**

Sarita quietly made her way to the store, constantly looking over her shoulder. She was worried about Lee and Jason, even if they had weapons. However, she pushed her nerves aside as she followed the black arrows, strolling stealthily through the corridors.

It didn't take long for Sarita to find the sporting goods store. She wandered into the store, only to find that it was not a pretty sight. The place was clearly looted, with sporting equipment and receipts strewn all over the floor, along with a few walkers, each of which had bullets in their heads. _'Maybe there's something left'_ Sarita thought hopefully, walking towards the back of the store.

'Damn it.' Sarita thought sadly. The glass display cases were shattered and emptied, but judging from the positioning of the hooks and indentations, the display cases once housed numerous varieties of guns. Upon further examination, the boxes and racks of bullets were all empty as well. Sarita sighed deeply. She had assumed that the guns were long-gone, but part of her had hoped that her gut instinct was wrong.

Despite this, Sarita was the type of person who felt the need to contribute. She trudged to the front of the store, hoping to find any sort of food or drink. Going to the nearest checkout counter, she examined the shelves, only to find nothing. After checking everything in the area, the only unchecked area was the cash register. Upon opening the register, she was horrified to discover several maggot-ridden human fingers, which were organized into different slots. Despite all of the things she had seen in the past, this sight, along with the scent, caused her to empty her already empty stomach, spewing bile all over the counter. _'Doesn't exactly help the smell._' She thought jokingly, wiping her mouth.

At this point, Sarita had searched everywhere in the store, and she had nothing to show for it but an old, scarred baseball bat. Desperate to find something useful, she did one last sweep of the store, and was lucky enough to find a locked door. How she didn't notice this door earlier, she didn't know, but she was grateful to have found it at all. After several hard kicks, the door went flying open, and she was shocked when a large walker stumbled out, instantly knocking her onto her back. Her bat rolled out of her hand as she desperately tried to keep the walker's teeth from latching onto her throat. This situation reminded Sarita of when she had first saved Lee, and she found it ironic that the savior now needed saving. However, Sarita didn't care about irony, she just wanted to live.

Her eyes flitted about for anything useful, finally resting on a bright green bike. It had been torn apart by scavengers, leaving nothing but some spare pieces of metal, along with a detached set of handlebars. It was like a light bulb had gone off in her head, as Sarita used one hand to reach out and grab the handlebars, while simultaneously holding the walker back with her remaining hand. Managing to get a grip on the handlebars, she swung them as hard as she could into the walker's temple, instantly throwing the walker off of her. Taking advantage of this, Sarita ran for the baseball bat, grabbing it in one hand. She then approached the walker, and slammed the bat into its cranium, killing it instantly.

With the danger having passed, Sarita put her hands on her knees and took a breather. After a few minutes had passed, Sarita strolled into the closet, this time with her guard up, before suddenly tripping on something. Looking at it, it was revealed to be a baseball. Sarita stood up, brushed the dust off her jeans, and shined her flashlight into the dark closet. The floor was strewn with sports balls of all kinds, from football to soccer to golf. She shone her flashlight around the closet, hoping to find something other than sports balls, and was pleased to see a brown duffel bag in the corner of the room. Upon opening it, she found several unopened bottles of Gatorade, as well as some protein bars and a bag of chips.

Zipping up the duffle bag, Sarita exited the store with her baseball bat at the ready. Striding towards the bright beams of sunlight, she stepped outside into the sunset, squinting her eyes. She looked down at the bloody message. **"H**e has forsaken us and left us in the hands of Satan." The note read. Sarita wondered who had written the message. Whoever had done it was obviously long gone, but it got her curious. Why would someone take the time to write that?

Sarita pondered this for the next fifteen minutes. _"We regroup at the entrance in thirty minutes. "If not, then we know something's up._" Sarita remembered. It had been over thirty minutes. No one was at the rendezvous point but her. Something was wrong. "Jason? Lee, are you there? Sarita inquired, her voice echoing throughout the seemingly empty store.

Sarita was beginning to get very worried. Following the arrows, she made her way to the Abercrombie and Fitch store, and yelled, "Lee? Jason?" She scoured the store, only to find nothing. She then proceeded to exit the store, and was shocked to see a brutally murdered corpse at the checkout counter, its face beaten in beyond the point of recognition. The blood seemed fairly fresh, which meant that someone, presumably Lee or Jason, had recently been here. Checking the store one more time, she came up without a trace.

Sarita sighed deeply. There was no trace of either of her friends. She proceeded to exit the store, and was shocked to see a man in the atrium. He was laying out a bled-out body, placing it gently on the atrium floor. The man looked like a bandit, mainly due to the fact that he was wearing a ski mask, but as her father had always told her, 'one should never judge someone by his or her appearance'. As a precaution, she pulled out her Baretta. She knew that she would not be able to kill this man, it just wasn't in her nature. However, he didn't know that, which she used to her advantage. "Hello." Sarita civilly greeted him, only to have a rifle aimed at her in response.

"Don't you fucking move!" The man yelled, glaring directly at Sarita. He was still unaware of the gun at Sarita's side. 'So,' Sarita thought, 'I was originally right. He is a bandit.'

"Please. You don't need to do this. You can just let me go." Sarita begged of the man. She was ready to put up her gun, but she wasn't ready to risk getting shot. Not yet.

"You're the third asshole to cross onto our turf. Today." You gotta pay up." He said sadistically. "First off, drop that there handgun. You think I don't notice it? Drop it! Kick it over too!" Sarita instantly heeded his warning. She dropped her gun and kicked it over to him. "Now, get on the ground." To Sarita's horror, the man began to unbuckle his belt, and had taken off his jacket. "NOW! You want to live? You know what I want!" He yelled.

The bandit shoved Sarta to the ground and straddled her stomach. Holding his rifle to her head, he grasped her cheeks with his other hand and forced her to look at him. "Yeah, I can work with this," He said gleefully. The bandit laid down his rifle as he took off his shirt, and Sarita used this to her advantage by punching him in the gut, instantly incapacitating him. All the air left his body as Sarita managed to push the bandit off of her and grab the M14 rifle. The bandit turned to attack her but was greeted with a rifle in his face.

The bandit hollered, "YOU STUPID CUNT! YOU ARE GONNA LIVE TO REGRET THIS! YOU—"

"Where are my friends?" She asked, pushing the barrel against his forehead. Sarita knew that she wouldn't be able to kill this man, no matter what he did. However, he didn't know that, which gave her an advantage.

"You mean the two cripples?" The bandit asked. "What were their names again, 'Lee and Jason?'" The bandit wondered. Judging from the expression on Sarita's face, he knew he had struck a nerve. He grinned. "Yeah, Lazarus is probably gutting them as we speak. I bet that he—"

Sarita had cut him off by slamming the stock of the rifle into his temple, knocking him onto his side. "Where are they!" She repeated, her eyes narrowing.

The bandit laughed crazily. "You know what? Fine, I'll tell you. You'll never be able to save them, or stop my friends. Besides, I'm sure Lazarus'll just kill your friends, then keep you around as a nice piece of ass to play with." The bandit grinned. In response to this, Sarita slammed the rifle into his temple. "They're in the Dillard's store upstairs. I look forward to the next time we meet, when you won't be able to keep me from—"

Sarita had knocked the bandit out cold with another good hit to the head. She aimed the rifle at the man's head, and tightened her finger on the trigger…but she couldn't. Sarita didn't have it in her to pull the trigger. She lowered the gun, and turned towards the tall metal staircase.

She slowly began to ascend the stairs, quickly noticing the store in question. It had a large entrance that was blocked by a wood and metal barricade topped with strings of barbed wire. Upon reaching the second floor, she realized that the barricade was too tall to see over. Thankfully, the barricade was ajar, presumably from when the bandit had exited the store.

Not wanting to be noticed, Sarita crouched at the opposite side of the staircase, peering into the store. She was easily able to find Lee and Jason, who had their hands bound to miscellaneous objects. She was also able to see at least three other bandits. Aiming her gun at the head of a tall African-American, Sarita lowered the gun. She didn't want to kill anybody. Aiming the gun a little lower, she fired, the gunshot echoing throughout the mall.

* * *

**Lee's POV**

The bullet did three major things. It went clean through Henry's shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground in agony, clutching his bleeding shoulder. It also caused everyone to break into a mad run for cover behind some shelves. Lastly, the bullet gave Jason the opportunity to break out of his bindings, which he had apparently been trying to do earlier while he was being beaten. Although he was still weak from the injuries, he was able to drag himself over to Lee and cut his zip ties off with a cleverly concealed switchblade.

Despite what was happening, Lee smiled. "It's Sarita. It has to be." Lee grinned, before yelling, "Sarita! Cover me!" as he made a mad dash for his overfilled backpack, which lay out in the open. Thankfully, Sarita heeded his orders, and covered him, shooting several rounds towards the bandits. Lee was able to make his way behind the barricade with Jason and his backpack. "Lazarus!" Lee bellowed, peeking out from behind the makeshift wall of metal, wood, and wire, "This doesn't have to get any worse. Just let us go, and we will go our separate ways.

"FUCK YOU!" Lazarus yelled, shooting at Lee with his revolver, causing Lee to retreat behind cover.

Lee checked the ammo count in his gun. He had five bullets for his Glock, and Jason had four for his Baretta. "Sarita?" Lee asked, looking around for his friend.

"Right here, Lee." Sarita replied, coming out from behind the staircase railing. Lee instantly hugged his friend. "Who are these people?" Sarita inquired.

"They held us at gunpoint when we were looking for supplies." Lee replied. "This guy, Lazarus…he's fucking crazy. He stabbed his own man to death for refusing to let him beat the shit out of Jason."

"You mean him?" Sarita wondered, pointing below the railing at the Paolo's cadaver.

Lee nodded. "Yeah. Anyways, you just saved our asses. Thanks." Sarita smiled in acknowledgement. "We gotta take these guys out, it's the only way we'll make it out of this. If we escape, they'll just follow us. Besides, these guys have enough supplies to last us the entire winter. If we can beat these guys, we can camp out here until spring." Lee proclaimed.

"Agreed." Jason said. "With my leg, I can't move. I'll take the rifle and provide cover while you two sneak up on them." Sarita nodded in agreement handing Jason her rifle, and receiving Jason's handgun. "GO. NOW!" Jason yelled, firing a few shots at the bandits' location.

Sarita and Lee sprinted through the metal barricade, taking cover behind the checkout counter before firing some rounds towards the bandits, hearing a fresh grunt of pain who he believed to be Corey. "You okay?" Lee asked.

"Fine, I'm fine." Sarita assured her companion. Sarita then peeked around the counter and shot at the bandits. However, she did not come out unscathed. As Sarita fired towards the bandits, a bullet grazed her arm, causing her to fall to the ground in pain. Something like that would only happen if Jason wasn't covering them. _Did he abandon us? _

"Why the fuck isn't Jason covering for us?" Lee yelled amid the gunfire. "What the hell is he doing?!"

"No idea!" Sarita replied, holding her bloody arm. She gritted her teeth in pain, blood seeping through her fingers.

Another shot rang out. Lee peeked out behind the counter to see an injured Henry firing at them from behind a shelf. In response, Lee fired a round at him, taking the top off of his skull. "Okay, I got one. Now there's just Corey and Lazarus left." Lee told Sarita. "Sarita, I need you to cover me while I run try to get closer."

"Got it." Sarita replied. Her arm still ached, but she held up her pistol. "GO!" Sarita shouted, firing her gun at the bandits' location. Lee took this opportunity to run into the clothing aisles and duck down. He stood up, trying to get a good angle on the bandits, but found that the clothing was keeping him from seeing anything. He tried to move a rack of clothing, only to have a barrage of bullets fired in his direction, which he miraculously dodged. Lee quickly dove to the ground, but he now knew their position.

Using his remaining arm, Lee slowly dragged himself through the aisles until he was behind some decent cover. Lee stood up, and he slowly sneaked towards the bandits' last known location before he realized something: the gunfire had stopped.

Suddenly, Lee felt a cold steel barrel of a gun against his neck. "You move, you die." Corey warned. He then shoved Lee forwards. "C'mon, you don't want to miss the grand event." He said, grinning sadistically. He was shoved towards the checkout counter when he saw Lazarus holding Sarita on the ground.

"Because of what y'all did to our little group, y'all are gonna pay." Lazarus grinned, slowly unbuckling his belt. Sarita struggled to get him off of her, but Lazarus punched her in the gut, effectively incapacitating her as he peeled off her sweatshirt.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!" Lee hollered. He was about to rush forward, but suddenly, Corey pinned him to the ground, forcing him to watch as Lazarus stripped himself and Sarita of their clothes.. Lee tried to shove Corey off, but without both arms, he was not physically able to knock him off.

By this point. Lazarus had stripped Sarita's upper body of any clothing, and he had taken off his pants and boxers. She continued to struggle but Lazarus was much stronger than she was, meaning she could not do anything to stop what was coming next.

Lee began to sob as he watched these events unfold before his very eyes

* * *

**Jason's POV**

Despite Jason's swollen face, he was an excellent shot with a rifle. He was easily able to keep the bandits cowering behind cover. He quickly noticed Corey aiming at Lee, but a well-placed bullet to shoulder forced him to retreat. _Take that you ginger shit._ However, amidst the gunfire, he was too distracted to notice the man sneaking up behind him.

"RAHHHH!" The injured Jeffery screamed, diving onto Jason's back. He then flipped him over, and proceeded to beat Jason's already beaten face. Jason felt one of his teeth loosen as he felt the onslaught of fists on his face. "Thankfully, that bitch you're with doesn't have the guts to kill anyone. Without you covering 'em, they'll die soon enough." Jeffery murmured psychotically.

Despite his injuries, Jason was a fighter. He always was. Taking advantage of his position, Jason slammed his knee into Jeffery's balls, causing him to emit a weak cry of pain. "YOU BASTARD!" Jason shouted, as he sat on Jeffery's chest and proceeded to punch him in the face repeatedly. What Jason didn't know is how flexible his adversary was. Without any notice, Jeffery had managed to lift his foot to the front of Jason's face, kicking him down the flight of stairs.

After tumbling down a flight of steps, right next to Paolo's body, Jason nearly blacked out from the pain. Gritting his teeth, he opened his eyes to see Jeffery aiming his M14 at his forehead. With no optimal cover, Jason ducked behind Paolo's corpse just as Jeffery pulled the trigger. Thankfully, the cadaver was able to absorb the impact. _FUCK! What the fuck do I do now?!_ Jason was growing frantic. He was pinned down, nowhere to go as this psychotic fucking bandit pinned him down. _Maybe I deserve this. For what happened on the road. With my friends._ Jason shook his head and closed his eyes as tight as he could. _No. It's not my fault. It could have been anybody; there was no proof that it was me, and the only thing convincing me that I did it was fucking survivor's guilt._

Jason opened his eyes, and suddenly realized that the answer to his problem was right before him. Jason adjusted Paolo's positioning before finding a small pistol tucked into his waistband. He gripped it so tightly that his knuckles whitened, and lied in wait.

Jason heard Jeffery slowly advancing down the steps, continuing to unload into Paolo's corpse as he did so. Jason felt fresh blood mist on his face as the bullets continued to be absorbed by the cadaver. Pulling himself directly below Paolo, Jason opted to wait as he fingered the trigger of his pistol.

The footsteps grew closer and closer, until he literally heard Jeffery's feet directly next to his ears. As Jason felt the weight of the corpse lifted off his body, he rapidly aimed the gun at Jeffery's exposed body and emptied his magazine into his chest.

Jeffery gasped, looking down at the many holes in his chest, all the while still clutching his M14. As he fell, Jeffery looked directly at Jason, and attempted to train his gun on him. However, he was dead before he hit the floor, with pools of blood already forming on the tile.

Groaning with pain from his new wounds, Jason crawled over to Jeffery's body and snatched the M14 from his freshly-dead fingers. Bending over, Jason stopped to catch his breath. He could not believe that he had just survived this encounter. Suddenly, Jason had a terrifying realization. _Lee. Sarita._

Jason stumbled up to the barricade as fast as he could, and was able to drag himself into his previous position. As he peered into the department store, he witnessed a terrifying sight. A bloody Corey had pinned Lee on his back, who appeared to be crying as he struggled to reach Sarita, who was being held down and undressed by Lazarus. Sarita was also trying to break free, but Lazarus was too strong for her to handle.

"YOU SICK FUCKS!" Jason bellowed, before aiming his M14and shooting a bullet into Corey's neck. Writhing in pain, the redheaded bandit fell to the ground, clawing at his neck as he bled onto the tile, dead before anyone knew what was happening. He then fired a second round into Lazarus's shoulder, knocking the bandit off of Sarita, who was breathing heavily, obviously traumatized by what just happened.

Staggering into the store, he was greeted by an angry Lee, who shouted, "Thanks for saving us, but where the fuck were you, man?!"

Jason replied, "The guy that Sarita knocked out woke up, nearly killed me." This only caused Sarita to start crying. Jason understood what she was going through. Her morality nearly caused the deaths of her friends, something Jason knew all too well about. Not only that, but her humanity had also nearly led to her being raped, something that was probably extraordinarily traumatizing. Jason turned to a wounded Lazarus, who was lying on the floor, blood from his shoulder wound pouring out and onto the floor. "What do we do with this fucker?" Jason asked the others.

Lee looked at the man, then looked at the gun in his hand. "This man is a psychopath, a rapist, and a murderer. We need to kill him." Lee stated, checking the bullet count in his gun.

"I agree." Sarita said, glaring at the bleeding man. Before anyone could do anything, Sarita whipped out her gun and aimed it at Lazarus's head. "This man deserves to die. We all know what he did, and he needs to pay for his crimes."

Jason was shocked by this exclamation. To him, Sarita seemed like the moral compass, the one who condemned killing under any circumstance. Yet here she was, preparing to kill Lazarus. In Jason's eyes, Lazarus did deserve to be killed, but he didn't know if Sarita should be the one to do it.

"C'mon girlie, y'all don't want to do that," Lazarus exclaimed. "We was just gonna have a little fun together, nothin' more or less. Like I explained to these two pricks over here, that would be the price you'd pay for trespassin' on our turf. Why don't you put the gun—" The bandit's speech was interrupted when a bullet pierced his brow, killing him instantly. Lazarus's body fell limp as the life drained out of him. _Good riddance. But who pulled the trigger…?_ Jason turned and was shocked to see not Lee, but Sarita, holding the smoking gun. Even though he had only been with them for a few hours, he could tell that Sarita would never have done that when they had first met. But when he first met her, Sarita hadn't undergone this trauma.

Lee tightly embraced Sarita, who began to cry. "I get it now." Sarita told him. "I understand what we must do to survive. You kill…or you die…" Lee nodded, before releasing her from his embrace.

"Sarita, are you sure you're okay? I mean, after what nearly happened, and you…" Lee trailed off, not wanting to upset his friend. "Do you still want to stay here? We can just take these supplies and go."

"Yes, we must stay. Despite what…what happened here, we need to stay here, at least for a few months. Come springtime, we leave this place, and we head to Wellington." Sarita paused. "Any objections?" Sarita asked, disturbingly echoing Lazarus's earlier words. "Good. Let's clean up."

* * *

**_Next time on "A Change Of Fate"_**

"_I don't know if Sarita's okay, especially considering what she just went through."_

* * *

_On the mountain loomed a large building with a wooden exterior. "Maybe we stay there for a while."_

* * *

"_I…I thought you were dead."_

* * *

"_Who the hell are these people?! What the fuck do they want with us?"_

* * *

**Episode Two: A House Divided**

* * *

**_A/N: Well, that was episode one! I hope you enjoyed this action-packed chapter, as well as the episode as a whole. The reason I did what I did with the bandits was to really develop Sarita as a character, as I want her to remain a kind, maternal character, but I want her to be…willing. Willing to do whatever it takes to survive, and it needed to take something like the Lazarus and the bandits to do that. Anyway, if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, feel free tell me them in a review. BTW, the quote Sarita said, "You Kill or you die", is from the TV show._**

"**_In this life now, you kill or you die. Or you die and you kill."_**

**_-The Governor. Walking Dead, episode 316, "Welcome to the Tombs."_**

**_Anyways, see you next time!_**

**_-ZombieSlayer995_**


	10. EPISODE TWO: A HOUSE DIVIDED

_**A/N: I'm BAAAAACK! This is ZombieSlayer995, coming to you with Episode Two: A House Divided. I seriously can't believe how much attention this story has received. It has been incredibly heartwarming and motivating, so thank you to everybody who has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. BTW, who watched the season finale of The Walking Dead on Sunday? If you didn't yet, you should, as it was one of the best episodes to date (in my opinion). If you did, what did you think? What do you think will happen next? Anyway, here is the mass author's note:**_

_**Thelastsoul232**__**: I'm glad you enjoyed the ending of last episode; I spent the whole day writing, rewriting, uploading, deleting, and re-uploading that chapter. In other words, it took quite a while. I'm glad you like what I'm doing with Sarita, I got the idea to develop her into more of a survivalist was from ZombieGuy96's stories, which you should take a look at if you haven't already. As for Clementine's appearance, all I can say is that it will happen at some point.**_

_**Tactus501st**__**: Thanks man! I always loved the intense/tension-filled parts of fanfics. As for OC's, you'll see.**_

_**Santiago Poncini 20**__**: Seems like everyone likes Sarita! I'm glad you like what I've done to develop her.**_

_**Smeake**__**: I'm pleased that you liked last chapter. The return of the main Season Two cast is something I look forward to as well.**_

_**SweetProp**__**: I understand how you feel. I just needed something to further develop Sarita, and that seemed like the best way to do it. I meant to write that the chapter was rated M, but I forgot, sorry. Anyways, I can't make any promises about your last request, as the world of The Walking Dead is filled with very screwed up shit, but I'll write that the chapter is rated M, and mark off the areas that feature it. On the other hand, I'm glad that you still enjoy the story as a whole.**_

_**Epic Hobo Chuck**__**: Thanks for the offer, but I'm not in need of more ideas just yet. I have a basis for what will happen in the remainder of the story, but if I need ideas, I know who to ask. I'm glad that you like the story, and I hope you stick with it to the end. Anyways, how shocked were you by the reveal at the end of Episode Four? **_

_**Anyway, with that out of the way, here comes the story!**_

* * *

_Previously, on "A Change of Fate":_

_A feeling of depression sinking into him, Lee aimed, and pulled the trigger, watching as the bullet powered through Ben's skull._

_Lee took this as his cue to leave, but as he was running to the ladder, he saw multiple walkers emerging from a door…right next to the ladder. "OH, SHIT!" Lee shouted, shoving a walker away from him and slamming its head into a brick wall. Somehow, Lee managed to push through some of the encroaching walkers and broke into a sprint, running for his life._

* * *

_Christa was suddenly released from the Stranger's grip as a bullet powered through the Stranger's eyeball, knocking him to the side. Everyone turned, and was shocked to see none other than Clementine holding the smoking gun._

* * *

_"No, you ain't." Kenny said weakly. Without any notice, Kenny wriggled from Omid's support, and grabbed the pole from Christa. "I'll lure them away. You three run." Christa was about to protest, but Kenny quickly hopped over and began to kill some walkers, clearing a small opening into an alleyway. "HEY! C'MERE YOU SONS A' BITCHES!" Kenny hollered, slamming his pole against a metal gutter, creating a loud vibrating sound. Several dozen of the herd branched off, shuffling towards the injured Kenny._

* * *

_The duo slowly trudged onwards for a few minutes, before Lee realized something. "Hey, I just realized something. We don't even know each other's names." Lee reminded her. "The name's Lee."_

_The woman grinned, and said, "Hello Lee. I am Sarita."_

* * *

_"Anyways, if we're gonna be traveling together, we should know each other's names. I'm Jason, and judging from your discussions, I'm gonna say that you're Lee, and she's Sarita." Jason said, nodding his head in Sarita's direction._

* * *

_He saw Corey holding Lee down as Lazarus was stripping Sarita. "YOU SICK FUCK!" Jason bellowed, before aiming his gun and shooting a bullet into Corey's neck._

* * *

"_Why don't you put the gun—" The bandit's speech was interrupted when a bullet pierced his brow, killing him instantly. Jason turned and was shocked to see Sarita holding the smoking gun._

* * *

_"Yes, we must stay. Despite what…what happened here, we need to stay here, at least for a few months. Come springtime, we leave this place, and we head to Wellington." Sarita paused. "Any objections?" Sarita asked, disturbingly echoing Lazarus's earlier words. "Good. Let's clean up."_

* * *

**Lee's POV**

"Good. Let's clean up." Sarita ordered, promptly gazing at the heaping pile of supplies in the corner of the room. "I'll take inventory of our supplies. Lee, you should get rid of those…monsters. Throw them in the atrium. Jason, you rest, you shouldn't exert your leg more than you have to."

Jason, who was leaning heavily against the barricade, had no complaints. He immediately sunk onto the ground, emitting a groan of relief as the pressure was taken off his leg. Lee turned from him to Sarita, who was walking over to their new stash of supplies. "Sarita, are you okay?" Lee asked, his tone thick with concern. He put his hand on her shoulder. "If you don't want to talk, I—"

"NO! GET AWAY!" Sarita shrieked, shoving Lee away from her. "GET OFF! I…I…" Sarita's eyes grew slightly reflective, but she quickly rubbed them and muttered, "I'm sorry, it's just…I'll go check our inventory." Sarita managed to turn her face into an emotionless mask, staring at Lee for a few seconds before shuffling off towards their supply heap.

Lee gazed worriedly at Sarita, who was calmly organizing cans of food that they had acquired from Lazarus. He simply could not believe that Sarita, the person who had saved his life, despite the fact that they were strangers, had murdered Lazarus, who had nearly…; Lee didn't want to think about it, but he could not understand how calm she was in the aftermath of what had happened. He wanted to help her, he just couldn't figure out how. He decided to start by dragging the corpses of Corey, Henry, and Lazarus out of the store. It was difficult with one arm, but Lee was able to pull them out of the store and hurl their corpses down the stairwell, shooting them looks of contempt before trudging back to their temporary home. Lee then trudged back towards the barricade, and went inside of the store, locking it shut behind him. He turned to Jason, who was pressing a piece of cloth to his open leg wound. "Jason, you okay man? He inquired, eyeing the man's bleeding leg.

"I don't think it's anything extremely serious. I'm good, for now at least." Jason replied, before turning to Sarita, who was taking inventory of their supplies. He gazed at her worriedly, before adding, "I don't know if Sarita's okay, especially considering what she just went through. I mean, who could go through an experience like that, and come out unscathed, and she just freaked out at you over nothing. "

"I can't really blame her. I mean, last time she was touched by a guy, he almost, well…" Lee trailed off, not really wanting to talk about what happened in Sarita's presence, even if she was out of earshot. "I think we gotta help her through this. We're her friends, she needs us."

"More you than me," Jason remarked, "I've only known you two for a day, and you've known her for god-knows how long." Jason stared at his open palms, which were tinted red with blood, and said, "Trauma…it changes people. Hell, what happened with my friends obviously changed me, you saw how I was earlier." Jason's eyes began to tear, leaving wet watery trails down his cheeks. "After what Sarita just went through, we gotta make sure that it doesn't effect her too badly. If we don't help her through this, she could get herself injured, or worse."

Lee shook his head firmly, "No, I won't lose someone else. Not after…" Lee took a deep, wavering breath. He hadn't thought about Clementine in weeks, and these thoughts about her nearly brought tears to his eyes. She may not have been his daughter, but he loved her all the same. Lee blinked the tears out of his eyes. "Never mind. The point is, we need to help Sarita through this, we can't leave her to suffer alone."

Jason looked like he was about to respond, but a third voice interjected into the conversation. Sarita stated "I appreciate that, I do, but I'm fine. Just…don't worry about me."

Throughout her speech, Lee noticed that she was shaking while she spoke. Lee was still concerned, but he didn't vocalize it. "Okay Sarita, got it, you're okay." Lee lied. Regardless of what Sarita wanted, he would help her through this. "Anyways, what's our food situation?" Lee asked, hoping for some good news.

Sarita's face brightened somewhat at this question. "Well, seeing as it's early February, we enough food to ride out the winter here without any supply runs, easy. Although it still might do some good to ration, just so it can last longer." Sarita said with a forced smile. Turning to the vast amount of food, Sarita added, "Well, who's hungry?"

It was then that the trio noticed their empty stomachs. After all of the action and trauma that had taken place, none of them had realized how immensely hungry they all were. Lee helped Jason to his feet, and the three of them wandered over towards a makeshift lounge of sorts that Lazarus and his crew had set up. Lee could see that several shelves were moved aside to make room for air mattresses, folding chairs, and a fireplace that was conveniently located not four yards away. Lee helped to walk Jason to one of the five mattresses, and he sat Sarita down as well, before using his lighter to start a fire with some old newspaper, quickly dropping it into the fireplace, before bending down on his hand and knees to shuffle through the piles of canned goods for anything desirable. "Okay, we have canned beans, canned corn, canned soup, canned spaghetti and meatballs, canned cans." This caused the three to break out into laughter, edgy and brittle laughter, but laughter nonetheless.

Sarita was the first to stop laughing, her face reverting to an emotionless mask. "We should treat ourselves with some spaghetti and meatballs. Lee, can you cook it by the fire?" Sarita asked.

"Sure thing Sarita." Lee replied, placing the year-old can in close proximity to the blazing fire, waiting for it to heat up. He glanced at Jason and Sarita before eyeing something in the corner of his eye. Grasping it in his remaining hand, he held it out in front of the others and inquired, "Who wants some scotch?"

"Oh my god, I need that shit. Gimme." Jason stated before grabbing the bottle, prying the cork out of the bottle and taking a long, deep sip. "Thanks, I needed that." Jason said graciously before turning to their female companion, whose eyes were boring into the glass bottle. "Oh…sorry Sarita. Here." Jason added awkwardly before giving it to Sarita, who instantly put the bottle to her lips, drinking a good portion of the bottle. She only stopped after a good twenty seconds when she was forced to stop and take a breath, upon which she handed the bottle back to Lee, who had a small sip of the liquor.

"Man, that was some good shit." Lee uttered, corking the bottle and placing it by his side. "Oh, the food's probably ready." Lee put the sleeve of his leather jacket around his palm, and picked up the heated can, placing it on a small wooden folding table. He took a fork from a pile of silverware, dipped it into the can, and pulled out a small meatball, which he crammed into his mouth, savoring the flavor. After a few more mouthfuls, he gave the fork to Sarita, who ate a portion of the meat, who then passed it to a very hungry Jason, who gobbled down several mouthfuls of noodles and beef. The next fifteen minutes went on like that, with the trio eating portions of food, and then passing it to the next person. They continued to do that until the can was empty, and their stomachs were full.

Jason belched, before muttering, "Excuse me." He then lay back on the mattress, putting his head in his hands. "I can't believe I've only known you guys for a day, and we've already bonded this much. But still, I don't know much about you two."

Sarita stared at Jason, using her turquoise jacket as a blanket, and remarked, "You're right. I guess I'll start." Despite the blazing fire, Sarita shivered. "I moved here from India in 2001, and worked as a flight attendant for a few years. When the turn happened…me and twelve of my friends were able to barricade ourselves in an elementary school, but back then, it was so early into the apocalypse, when the government was still partially in control. No one knew that gunfire drew the dead, so when the guards shot at walkers…a herd came, and trapped us inside." Lee thought that Sarita talking about previous trauma wouldn't go well with the experiences that she had gone through recently, but he didn't stop her, rather he got ready to comfort her. "We herd surrounded us, so there was no way out. And it was like that for weeks, even after we ran out of food. So…we decided to spread out, make a run for it, but…I think I was the only survivor…" Sarita tried to blink back tears, but it proved ineffective as tears streamed down her face. Lee tried to reassuringly put his hand on her shoulder, but Sarita pulled away, no doubt remembering what Lazarus had nearly done. However, after a few seconds, she let Lee comfort her, shooting him a look of thankfulness. From there, she wiped her face with her sleeve before continuing, "I met Lee a little over a year into this, about two months ago. We've been surviving together ever since."

Jason gave her a look of sympathy; he obviously knew what it was like to lose friends. He then turned to Lee, and said, "You don't have to, but it'd be good to know 'bout you too."

Lee stared into the roaring fire, before saying, "Before all this, I lived in Macon, Georgia with my wife, and I worked at UGA as a history professor." Lee smiled, fondly remembering his class. He had always enjoyed teaching. "But…one day I caught my wife…in bed with someone else, a state senator actually. The two of us fought, and…it was an accident, I…killed him." Lee stopped and sighed deeply, blinking profusely. "I was on my way to jail when the police car hit a walker. Shortly after, I met this little girl, Clementine. We found a group, and we all tried to make it but…it didn't work. We tried to go to Savannah and find a boat, but some fucker kidnapped Clementine, and I got separated from the group. I was on my own for a while. But then I met Sarita, thank god." Lee's voice had begun to crack. Thinking about Clementine was too tough to handle, but he was able to bottle up his feelings and emit a long, deep sigh.

Jason looked at his friends, before saying, "Look…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you guy to tell me about the past, it's too goddamn hard to think about."

"It's okay Jason, we should know about each other." Sarita replied, glancing at Jason expectantly.

Jason didn't seem to get the message for a few seconds, but when he did, he looked down at the ground in sadness. "I worked as a bartender in Tennessee before all this shit happened. Once it did, me and about thirty others set up camp in the bar I worked at, barricaded all the entrances. Most of them were strangers, but some of my friends were there, along with my older brother, Oliver." Jason stopped for a second, his expression turning into grief.

Lee put his hand on Jason's shoulder, "You don't have to continue if you don't want to." Lee said sympathetically. He knew what it felt like to bring up the past.

Jason shooed Lee away. He miserably muttered, "It's fine, don't worry 'bout it." He rubbed his eyes vigorously before continuing, saying, "We held out there for a couple months. The bar was only a couple blocks away from the nearby Wal-Mart, so we were stocked up on food and guns. But…one day, people just started vanishing. They would just disappear, except there would always be a bloody handprint where they slept. At first, everyone tried to go about it the situation in an orderly manner, but after a few weeks, ten others were murdered, and it just became a witch-hunt. Our leader, Roy, became increasingly paranoid. Almost every day, he would accuse someone else of being the murderer based off of some bullshit evidence, and the next night, the real murderer would off them. It's what happened to my brother…" Jason was openly weeping at this point, tears rapidly dripping onto the floor. "We never found out who did it, but when our group was whittled down to me and seven others, I took my closest friends: Anthony, Lisa, and Jorge, and we just took some bags of supplies and bolted. We survived together for a few months before, well, you know." Jason murmured, clearly depressed about what had happened to his group. He sighed, "Well, that's that."

Lee was not really enjoying the whole depressing vibe that had emerged from the conversation. "Okay guys, we don't need to talk about shit like that, let's just go to sleep. God knows we all need it." Lee stated, his eyes growing heavy, limbs feeling like lead.

Sarita was already nodding off, her eyes only half-open. "Yes, that might be for the best." She mumbled slothfully, already fast asleep on the air mattress.

Lee turned to Jason, who was already snoring loudly, on another mattress. Trying not to make any noise, Lee adjusted himself on his own mattress before falling into a deep sleep.

_**A/N: Well, this chapter may not have been very action-packed, but The Walking Dead is a blend of character development and action, and this is a chapter that focuses more on development. Anyways, Episode Two has begun! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please leave a review (they help motivate me). **_

_**Before this ends, **__**Tactus501st **__**asked me to add more OC, and since I don't have any that are particularly interesting, please send me your OC in your reviews, and I will introduce the one I like most in "Episode Three: In Harm's Way". The format should be like this:**_

_**Name:**_

_**Gender:**_

_**Age:**_

_**Appearance**_

_**Clothing: **_

_**Personality:**_

_**Notable Traits:**_

_**Just because I asked you to give me OC ideas doesn't mean I want you guys to skimp on reviews regarding this chapter, or future chapters, so please add a normal review with your OC. **_

_**Quote of the Day:**_

"_**Simply put…there is a vast ocean of shit that you people don't know shit about. Rick knows every fine grain of said shit."**_

_**-Abraham, The Walking Dead TV Show, Episode 516: Conquer**_

_**And with that, see you next time.**_

_**-ZombieSlayer995**_


	11. Wellington Bound

_**A/N: Hey guys, it is I, ZombieSlayer995 coming at you with the next chapter of episode two! Before I start, I need to say something. Another author, **__**SoonTheApocalypse**__** has agreed to critique my story and point out flaws, so I may soon end up taking a break to revise old chapters.**_

_**BTW, a lot of the words in this chapter are from this author's note (it's very big this time), and I think this'll be one of the best chapters so far.**_

_**Anyways, the winner of the OC contest is…**__**Tactus501st**__**'s Wayne Cooper! However, this doesn't mean that the other OC's were bad; they were actually very good, and those I liked may appear at later. Sorry if I didn't use yours. Anyway, here is the mass author's note.**_

_**ClementineTWDG**__**: Thanks, I'm glad you liked last chapter. You're right, so many authors don't even think about character development, even though without it, The Walking Dead is just another zombie game with bland characters.**_

_**Leafs Nation**__**: Thanks for the kind review, and as for the ski lodge, you'll see…**_

_**Guest**__**: I liked your OC, and I hope that you like the story.**_

_**SweetProp**__**: Your OC, George Druthers, seems interesting. Sorry I didn't use him, but I'm glad you liked last chapter's character development.**_

_**Smeake**__**: Well, I'm glad you liked last chapter, and I did enjoy your OC. He seems cool.**_

_**Tactus501st**__**: As I told you via PM, you won! I'm glad you liked my ideas for him, as well as last chapter. **_

_**BLACK-OP1**__**: I'm glad you understood the fact that dark themes, such as rape, are common in the world of The Walking Dead. I'm glad you liked the last few chapters, and understood the necessity to develop the characters. Like I said, I really liked your OC, Gabriel. I will try to incorporate him at some point in the story, just not during 'In Harm's Way'**_

_**Santiago Poncini 20**__**: I really liked your OC, and I'm sorry I didn't use him (or Hope). Also, is your OC the same Zayne that appears in **__**Owen96**__**'s "One More Chance"?**_

_**Thelastsoul232**__**: I'm glad you liked the previous chapter, as well as what I've done with Sarita and Jason. As for your comment about the bite, in Chapter Seven, "Bonding With Friends", Jason deduced that Lee was bit, and said that his friend had to amputate his arm due to a bite.**_

_**Matthew TWD**__**: I'm glad you like the story, as well as my original plotlines. Your OC, Sal, seems interesting. Sorry I didn't use him.**_

_**Artamis9**__**: I'm really glad that you're enjoying my fanfic. I liked all of your OC's, I'm sorry I didn't select them, but who knows, maybe they'll appear later.**_

_**Epic Hobo Chuck**__**: I have to agree with you, the last few chapters have made the buildup so worth it, they have me completely hooked. If you don't want to submit an OC, it's cool, you're still my 'co-author' XD. Anyways, I'm glad you like the story.**_

_**Ravens And Crows Of Darquesse**__**: It's fine, and I'm glad that you are helping me with grammar problems, although it's impossible to make something perfect. As for more walkers, thanks for the advice, I'll keep that in mind ;) As for Walter and Matthew, I can't say anything, sorry. My lips are sealed.**_

_**I don't think there is any real timetable, I just try to update every couple days, although they may get more infrequent due to school, and I probably won't write at all in June and July (finals and vacation). If you don't want to have to check every day, if you follow/favorite the story, you can get emails notifying you of the chapters release as soon as they come out.**_

_**As for the timeline, I plan to add more time jumps to even things out. Also, I think it was six months in between Savannah and Omid's death (Christa knew she was pregnant at Savannah, probably found out before, and she was very pregnant at the pit stop) and it was sixteen months until Clementine met Luke, not eighteen, and so far, Lee and Sarita have only known Jason for a day.**_

_**As for Hanes Mall, the mall is real, and is located a county east (I think) of Yadkin County, North Carolina, which is where they found Jason. Overall, I'm glad that you haven't been afraid to use constructive criticism with grammar. I'm glad you like the story, and that you find the development to be realistic. Sorry I didn't use your OC, she sounded fairly dark and intriguing. Stay tuned.**_

_**With that essay out of the way, let the story commence!**_

* * *

**Lee's POV**

_Two Months Later_

Today was the day. Lee was sitting on a metal folding chair, drinking from a half-empty bottle. The water felt refreshing to Lee's tongue as he sipped from the dirty, label-less bottle. Finishing his sip, he slothfully twisted the cap onto the bottle before shoving it into a large beige backpack. It was hard to do with one arm, but Lee refused to let his 'condition' interfere with his daily life, and was able to get it done.

Sarita, who was cramming food into a dark grey backpack, turned to Lee. "Everything packed?" She asked curiously, her voice betraying a hurried tone. Considering all that had happened here, Lee couldn't blame her wanting to leave the mall. During the two months that they had spent there, Sarita had definitely grown warmer than she was when they had first dealt with its inhabitants.

Lee double-checked the contents of his backpack, not wanting to have missed anything. There were several bottles of water, a dozen cans of food, some protein bars, a first-aid kit, a meat cleaver, and a lighter. Then came the personal items. Carley's pistol and several clips of ammunition lay at the top of the supplies. Despite the gun seeming like a survival tool, he really kept it as a memento of his lost friend. They had never officially been in a relationship, but Lee had loved her. Next to the handgun was a torn picture of Lee's brother, Bud, along with their parents. Lee quickly put the photo back into his pack; he couldn't afford to think about them. Finally, he found the item with the most meaning: a leaf rubbing given to him by Clementine. Lee stared at it for a long while before tucking it into his shirt pocket, right next to his heart. "Yeah Sarita, I'm ready." Lee answered, zipping up the pack. He looked out the window, spotted nothing but asphalt, and said, "Parking lot looks clear. We should go, while the road is still clear."

Sarita nodded in agreement. "That is probably wise." Sarita turned to Jason, who was now able to walk and stand on his own to feet, albeit with a slight limp. He was also packing a bag, this one being full of ammo and medical supplies. Lee found it ironic that two of the most contradictory items were being placed in the same bag. "Jason, are you ready to go?" She inquired.

Jason put one last bottle of pills into his bag before zipping it up, putting it on his shoulders, and grasping a hefty duffel bag in his hands. "Yeah, I think we're good, let's roll." Jason answered, adjusting the strap on his shoulders. The trio strolled out of the Dillard's store.

They were about to go down the stairs when Lee remembered something. "Wait." He ordered, running back to the store. He took out a pen and a post-it sticker, and wrote, _'We left the store to head north. If you find this place, there are some supplies we couldn't take, so they are yours, as well as this fortified store. Well, good luck surviving. –Lee.'_ Lee felt satisfied with his writing, and he placed the post-it on the door of the barricade before joining the rest of his group at the stairs.

None of them looked back, but as they exited the mall, they did look around. On their right were the corpses of all five bandits they had dealt with. One of them, Paolo, had been separated from the others and covered due to the fact that he had tried to help them, but others were burnt husks stacked in a pile, which was swarming with flies. Shortly after that, they past the Abercrombie store where Lee and Jason had first been abducted. Finally, they stepped through the shattered glass doors, walking outside. After being exposed to the elements for so long, the message previously written there had mostly eroded away. The 'H' had been blown away by a storm about a month ago, and most of the blood had been washed off, with only small spots of red showing on the pavement.

It was mid-April, but it was quite sunny and warm. Blinded by the sunlight, Lee put his remaining hand over his eyes and squinted, effectively blocking the rays of sunlight that were piercing into his eyes. His hand still above his eyes, Lee turned to his two companions, and asked, "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Jason replied, slightly nervous about the dangers that would greet them on the road.

"Same here; let's put some miles between us and this place." Sarita said, clearly anxious to leave the place where so much had happened to her. "C'mon." And with that, the trio slowly trudged into the tree line, with their hearts set on a destination: Wellington.

* * *

_Six Months Later_

**Sarita's POV**

Resting on a fallen tree, Sarita's eyes gazed at her map of the state. Apparently, they were somewhere in a section Blue Ridge Mountains, specifically in Virginia. Sarita had wanted to get farther in six months, but the trio's progress had been hampered by the geography, as well as the fact that Virginia seemed to be heavily infested with walkers, more so than North Carolina, which intrigued Sarita. Sarita assumed that it was because the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic were more heavily populated than the southern portions of the country, but honestly she had no idea.

A breeze floated through the October air, which despite her winter jacket, caused her to shiver intensely. They needed to keep moving, so they could possibly find a car, and get farther before it got colder, and before winter sets in. She turned to Lee, who was running his single hand through his hair. Upon noticing Sarita's gaze, Lee asked her, "How's our food situation?"

Sarita sucked in air through her teeth, and muttered, "Okay, I guess. We have a few weeks left of food, so we can last for a little while longer before we need to go on any supply runs."

Suddenly, they heard a moan come from her right. Sarita stood up and pulled a metal hatchet from her waistband, but before she could do anything, another voice stated, "I got it." And swung a large metal pickaxe into the side of its skull, completely annihilating its cranium and scattering brain matter across the dirt. Jason dropped the pickaxe and sat back down, taking a sip of water.

Once again, a frigid autumn breeze blew by, forming goose bumps up and down her limbs. Sarita had never experienced autumn in India, where it was consistently warm and rainy, but she loved it. Despite the chill in the air, the magnificence of the bright, colorful trees was one of the only beautiful things left in this world. This caused Sarita to sigh. She stood up, brushing the dirt off her jeans, before, uttering, "We should get going." Sarita folded up the map and placed it in her pocket, but kept her hatchet out to protect from the dead and the living alike. Lee and Jason followed in suit, with Lee grasping his meat cleaver and Jason his pickaxe; they began to trudge north, weapons at the ready.

The silence was deafening, something Lee seemed to realize and hate. "So, when we get to Wellington, what do you think it'll be like? I mean, do you think it'll be…secure, safe, protected?" Lee asked. Everyone knew it was just an excuse to get everyone talking, but no one minded.

Jason replied, "After what we've been through, it damn well better be. Also, if people are finding out about it all the way in Florida, and if the place is as good as it seems, then they've gotta have a…code of sorts. So when we do get there, we gotta be sure we don't act stupid if we want to get in. If it exists, that is." Lee glared at him once he said that. Sarita couldn't blame him, as she knew that this goal was the only thing keeping him from thinking about Clementine. If the goal turned out to be nothing, then it would not be good…for anybody.

"We will get there. It is real. The man I met said that it wasn't just him who was going to Wellington. Many other groups were going there as well. Where there's smoke, there's fire." Sarita contradicted.

"Yeah, but how did they find out about Wellington in the first place? How did groups in Florida suddenly get the bright idea to take a trip up to Michigan?" Jason argued, clearly trying to make his point. Lee and Sarita stared at him, not able to come up with a good answer. "All I'm saying is it might be good to have a 'Plan B', y'know? Something we can all fall back on in case Wellington turns out to be a pipe dream."

"It isn't." Lee stated firmly. "Wellington is real, and we will get there. There won't be any need for a 'Plan B", Jason. We'll get there, and we'll finally be able to sleep with no gun under our pillows. We'll actually be safe. From people, from walkers, from starvation, all of it." Lee sounded very convincing, but Jason still didn't look like he was buying the idea of Wellington.

"Okay, fine. Say Wellington does exist. How long ago did you hear about this Sarita? A year? More? Even if there was such thing as Wellington, the probability of a safe, secure community surviving for that long is pretty fuckin' slim guys. Once we get to Michigan, we'll either find a: nothing, or b: an overrun camp that's been picked clean of supplies." Jason replied. Sarita could tell that Jason wanted to believe in Wellington, he did, but he just couldn't bring himself to believe in an actual safe haven in this world.

"You just watch, Jason. We will find Wellington, and we will survive. I know it. We just have to be smart, and we can last. We can make it in this horrible world." Sarita replied encouragingly. Suddenly, a smell wafted through the air, entering everyone's noses. "It smells like…smoke." Sarita deduced, looking around for a possible source.

Suddenly, screams echoed through the woods. Lee pointed towards the trees. "This way!" He shouted, pulling out his meat cleaver. Lee and Jason started to run, but Sarita lagged behind. She remembered the last time she had encountered strangers, and how she had nearly been…Sarita refused to go through that again. Then she remembered Lee and Jason, who had been like family to her, and how they too were strangers at one point. With that in mind, Sarita sighed and followed her companions through the trees.

She was easily able to catch up to them, seeing as she had always been very fast, hence her father nicknaming her 'Speedy' as a child. As they got closer to the source of the screams, they became more distinguished. There appeared to be several people screaming for help. Some had shrill screams, some baritone, some gravelly, some nasal, and the screams were dying out rather quickly.

Finally, after several minutes of running, the trio stumbled into a clearing, and quickly stopped to breathe. Looking around, they could see the source of the smoke: a small campfire surrounded by tents and bulging backpacks of supplies. Several fresh corpses lay on the ground, each of which had several walkers consuming it. By now, only one person remained screaming. It was a young woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, with long, brown hair, and a face spotted with freckles and blood. She was desperately holding back a walker with open jaws, which was gazing at the woman with dead, colorless eyes. Sarita saw Lee began to sprint towards her, but it was too late. Just a second before reaching the woman, the walker clenched its teeth into her throat, turning her screams into desperate gurgling noises. Sarita and Jason began to dispatch the walkers as Lee slammed his meat cleaver into the walker's skull, killing it instantly.

Once all the walkers were lying dead on the dirt, Sarita and Jason walked over to the dying woman, gazing at her with sympathy. "P-p-lea—" The woman choked, her throat and mouth clogging with blood. While she couldn't finish her sentence, Sarita knew what she wanted. Apparently, Lee did as well, and he mercifully ended the woman's life by placing a bullet between her eyes.

Jason dropped to the ground and began to rummage through some of the backpacks on the ground. "Oh my god, guys. There's enough shit here to last us until Christmas. Let's grab this shit and—" Before Jason could finish his sentence, a symphony of moans resonated through the wilderness. The trio prepared their weapons…as a single walker shuffled through the trees. Jason chuckled, "Must have been due to the topography." He took a step forward before planting his metal pickaxe into the top of the walker's head. Pulling it out nonchalantly, he wiped the blood off of the mining tool before turning to Sarita and Lee. "Only a single walker…heh." Jason grinned, before turning back to the tree line. "Wait…the groans. They aren't stopping." Jason exclaimed, the truth becoming clear to him. Jason stumbled backwards before dozens of walkers broke into the clearing.

"SHIT!" Sarita bellowed, sprinting in the other direction, which happened to be a steep hill. She turned, and saw her friends following in suit, who were also charging up the incline. However, she also noticed hundreds more walkers right at their heels. "HURRY, COME ON! Lee turned to fire at the encroaching walkers before resuming the mad dash for safety. After several horrifying minutes, they reached the top of the hill, but the walkers weren't far behind. Slicing at a legless walker that was grasping her shoe, Sarita tripped forwards, not noticing the steep decline downhill. "AHH!" Sarita screamed, tumbling downhill until her side collided with the trunk of a thick oak.

"SARITA!" Lee shouted desperately. Sarita heard him, but the pain in her side was too much. Blood was trickling the corner of her mouth as spasms of pain throbbed up and down her body. She tried to move, but the agony only intensified. 'I probably broke a few ribs.' Sarita thought miserably. She heard approaching footsteps, as well as the moans of walkers, which were getting louder by the second. 'This is it for me here.' Sarita thought, 'I came all this way only to be stopped by a tree.' She closed her eyes and hoped that her death wouldn't be too painful.

Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted off the ground, bridal style. "C'mon Sarita, you ain't dyin' on us just yet." A familiar voice uttered. She wasn't able to place it with a name until she opened her eyes, and saw the Caucasian man who was carrying her downhill. 'Jason. His name is Jason.' She remembered, slowly coming to. They had almost reached the bottom of the hill, and she saw a vast lake in front of her, along with an old railroad bridge. The groans were getting more distant, but they were still present.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the hill, finally reaching another clearing. In the center of the clearing lay a large lake, with the red railroad bridge directly ahead of them. Now that she was at the bottom of the hill, she could now see another mountain on the other side. On the mountain loomed a large building with a wooden exterior. "Maybe we stay there for a while." Lee suggested, pointing to the building. "At least until Sarita can recover from her fall."

Sarita may have been injured, but she could still speak, "I-I'm fine, it's okay guys—" She was interrupted by the sound of dozens of walkers crashing through the trees.

"We gotta get out of here! And fast, before this herd catches up to us!" Jason stated, his voice laced with panic. He turned to the bridge. "This way!" He shouted, sprinting towards the bridge with Sarita still in his arms. On the way there, they encountered two walkers. One of them was standing, the other was leaning against a rock. Lee quickly dispatched them with his meat cleaver, and they rushed forwards. Ignoring the walkers that were lurking on the bridge, as well as the unsettling creaks, Lee and Jason rushed forwards, Sarita still in his arms. Sarita hated being cooped up in Jason's arms, but she knew how painful it would be to walk.

They had almost made it to the other side when Sarita noticed a silhouette on standing next to a small shack of a building. At first, she thought it was a walker, but as they got closer, she could see that he was walking, not stumbling, and that he was holding a rifle. "Who are you?" The man asked.

"Let us go, we're just trying to outrun a herd." Sarita begged, but her voice barely came out as a whisper due to the pain.

"What? You shouldn't talk if you're injured miss." It was then that the stranger saw, or heard, the large horde of walkers. "C'mon, in here." The man offered. Lee and Jason ran into the shack with Sarita, and the stranger quickly closed and locked the door, unsheathing a large combat knife in case. The moans got loader as the dead stumbled past the shack, not even giving it a second thought.

Jason set Sarita down on a small cot in the corner of the room, and Lee said, "Well…thank you. Thank you so much."

"No problem, it's nice running into some friendly faces out here. At least, you seem friendly you know? I'm still gonna keep my eye on you guys though, just in case you're assholes, no offence." The man joked.

Lee chuckled, "Okay, sure. And again, thank you." Sarita found herself liking the man, but she could not be sure just yet.

"Happy to help." The man reassured them. "Name's Matthew."

_**A/N: And that is Chapter 11! The trio has finally found the ski lodge, next chapter will introduce Walter. I hope you guys liked the you have a comment or question, please put it in a review. **_

_**Quote of the Day:**_

_**Andrea: "I shot Daryl." **_

_**Dale: "Well, don't be too hard on yourself. We've all wanted to shoot Daryl."**_

**_Andrea and Dale, The Walking Dead TV Show, Episode 205, Chupacabra_**

**_With that, ¡Ciao!_**

**_-ZombieSlayer995_**


	12. Home From Home

_**A/N: Well, here is the next chapter. I'm so, so, SO sorry I haven't updated lately, but I was sick for a few days, and then **__**Daredevil**__** came out on Netflix (excellent show, if you haven't seen it) and I was binge-watching for the past few days. This chapter will focus on interactions with Walter and Matthew, as well as the now stone-cold personality of Sarita, so not much action, sorry. Anyways, here is the mass-author's note.**_

_**Epic Hobo Chuck**__**: I'm glad you liked last chapter. You're right, it is interesting to see how groups deal with herds, but can you really blame them for running (unless you have an army equipped with mini-guns or some shit)? The new OC will certainly change some aspects of the story, especially considering the altered back-story that he will have.**_

_**Santiago Poncini 20**__**: Thanks, I'm glad you liked the chapter! As for Walter dying, you'll see…**_

_**Leafs Nation**__**: It had to happen at some point, right? Anyways, yes, this will allow Matthew and Walter to get more screen time than they did in the game. And like you, I am psyched for the introduction of Clementine, and I think you'll love my post-Howe's storyline.**_

_**Thelastsoul232**__**: There have still been deaths, such as Omid (off-screen), Omid Jr. (off-screen), Ben, the Stranger, Pete (off-screen) and Lazarus's group. I intend for there to be several deaths later on in the story, so don't exclude this story just yet…**_

_**As for Lee, I felt that despite the comforting presence of Sarita, she isn't as warm-hearted as she used to be (is still maternal by nature, but is now kind of…cold). Lee is still motivated by Sarita and Jason, but now, the only thing that is really moving him forward is Wellington, like Kenny and his boat, although if Sarita or Jason died, he'd be absolutely devastated. I'm glad you like the story, and I hope that you continue to.**_

_**Artamis9**__**: I'm glad that you enjoy the concept. Thanks for the kind review, and I hope you like this chapter as well.**_

_**Smeake**__**: I've been looking forward to the introduction of other Season Two characters for so long, it's been driving me nuts. I'm glad you liked the previous chapter.**_

_**Babehunter1324**__**: Yep, all of the roads, stores, and malls used are actual places. I'm glad you are enjoying the story.**_

_**SweetProp**__**: Sorry, I was never really intending to make a Lee X Sarita pairing, I don't really like most stories that are based entirely on pairings (although there are exceptions). I was really aiming for a familial bond.**_

_**Ravens And Crows Of Darquesse**__**: It's the same for me. Whenever I read books/fanfics, I am so irked by grammar issues and typos, even though they are no big deal. I'll probably fix them when I revise old chapters. I will also try to make previous chapters much more descriptive.**_

_**As for Carley's gun, the gun that Lilly used to kill Carley was actually Carley's (don't know how she got it though, probably in a weapons stockpile), and Lee actually had it throughout the remainder of the game.**_

_**Thanks for the data on how to treat broken ribs, it'll make this chapter much more realistic. Also, I've always assumed that if Lee's arm is amputated, he dies of blood loss or infection (though not by the bite), so when Lee patched himself up, I made the assumption that he was able to save his life.**_

_**Jay Punker**__**: I'm glad you're liking the story so far. And I'm sorry, but I will probably not include characters from the comics, and as much as I would fucking like to Negan appear, I simply fucking cannot, I have no fucking idea how the fuck I would fucking incorporate him into this fucking story! I hope you liked my Negan impression. :)**_

_**ONTO THE STORY!**_

**Lee's POV**

Nice to meet you Matthew, I'm Lee." Lee replied, holding out his single hand, which Matthew promptly shook. "This is Jason, and she's Sarita."

Matthew turned from person to person, energetically pointing at Lee's comrades as he spoke. "Okay, so Lee, Jason, and Rita." The man joked, putting his razor-sharp knife on a shelf.

"It's _Sarita_, not Rita_." _Sarita muttered, closing her eyes in anguish. However, Matthew's comment had caused her to smile, something that Sarita had been doing less and less lately. He couldn't blame her, this man actually seemed to be a genuinely nice person, a rarity this far into the apocalypse.

"Got it Rita." Matthew joked good-heartedly, pulling a key out of his pocket before kneeling onto the floor to fiddle with a locked chest. "Listen, if you guys want, you can come back with me to the lodge, we won't try to kill you or anything, unless you end up being assholes." Matthew offered.

"You mean the ski lodge on the mountain?" Jason wondered curiously, pulling a water bottle out of his backpack. He pressed a bottle of lukewarm water against Sarita's ribs, causing her to emit a moan of relief. After a few seconds, he tucked the bottle back into his pack, and pulled out a thick roll of gauze. "And who's 'we'?" He added, almost as an afterthought.

"Yeah, I live up in the ski lodge with my partner, Walter. Don't worry, he's a great guy, I'll introduce him to you guys shortly." Matthew informed them. "Jason, was it?" Matthew asked. After receiving a nod, Matthew said, "Well Jason, you shouldn't wrap broken ribs with gauze. It might relieve the pain, but it could do some internal damage to your lungs. Rather, you should apply ice regularly, get lots of rest, and do a lot of coughing." Lee was about to ask Matthew a question, but Matthew interrupted, "I know this much because I was able to find some medical books and read up on some basic treatments in case anything happened. That is what you were gong to ask, right?"

"I'm impressed." Lee stated, and the feeling was genuine. Not many people can just teach themselves how to play doctor. "Anyways, I'd like to take you up on that offer. We'll check out the ski lodge, but if we see anything we don't like, you'll be the one to regret it, I promise you that." Lee hoped that what he was saying didn't scare the man off. He seemed genuinely nice, which was a rare trait lately. However, one could never be too careful, and Lee had always been the cautious type.

Matthew nodded eagerly. "Of course, I get it. You can never be too trusting these days. Anyways, it's a short trek up the mountain, but it's worth it. We've got power, food, beds, even running water. Hell, you're welcome to stay there for as long as you want." Lee's heart pounded at this statement. He couldn't remember the last time he had electricity, warmth, and running water. He felt his guard lowering more and more by the second. This man was a good guy, he knew it.

"Okay, let's go." Lee replied, his voice laced with enthusiasm. He looked over to Jason, who was gazing at a now unconscious Sarita. "Jason, can you get Sarita?" Lee inquired.

"On it." Jason muttered. He bent down and grasped Sarita's body in his arms, adjusting her body until it was held bridal style. Jason carried her over to the window, and peeked outside. "Coast is clear. We should probably go before another herd shows up."

Lee nodded in approval, shouldered his backpack, and turned to Matthew, who had already swung the door open, and was scanning the area with his rifle. He pointed to the top of the mountain, and energetically uttered, "¡Vamanos!" He then began to slowly trudge uphill, before turning to Lee. "C'mon." He added.

"Okay. Let's go." Lee told Jason, before following Matthew up the tall mountain.

* * *

It took several minutes, but the foursome reached the hilltop, where the massive ski lodge loomed several stories high. "Moonstar Lodge." Lee read. "Seems nice enough." Lee noticed that most of the windows were untouched, which shocked him. He would have boarded the windows up as soon as he arrived. He would have to suggest this to Matthew later.

Matthew calmly strolled over to the glass doors and threw them open, gesturing for the others to come in. When Lee entered the building, it was as if a shroud of warmth had been thrown around him. He was at a loss of words. The building was clearly being heated, presumably by a wind turbine that Lee had seen next to the building itself. Overall, the place gave off a very comforting and homely feel, with lights blazing on the ceiling, a roaring fireplace, and an overall niceness. "Wow." Lee was able to stutter, before turning to Jason, who had a similar look on his face. "This place is…amazing."

"Isn't it." Matthew grinned, before looking at a large sofa that sat next to a roaring fireplace. "Jason, you should put Sarita there, she needs some—"

"Matt?" A new voice interjected. Lee turned to see another man, presumably the 'Walter' that Matthew had mentioned. Walter looked to be in his late-forties, with thin, dark grey hair. He wore a red sweater, and he was grinning widely. "Matt!" He repeated, running up to Matthew and locking him in a deep embrace. "God, you know I get worried when you're out there. Are you okay?"

"Don't worry Walt, I'm fine, really. I met some new people though." Matthew replied, gesturing to Lee, who was standing there awkwardly.

"Hey uh…Walter. I'm Lee. This is Jason, and that's Sarita." Lee told him, gesturing to a sleeping Sarita." He held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Walter smiled, and shook Lee's hand firmly. "You too, Lee. It's great to meet new people, don't you think?" He asked.

"Well, not always these days, what with all the bandits and murderers, but it's always great to find good people." Lee replied honestly.

"Agreed." Matthew interjected, as Jason stepped forward to shake Walter's hand. "So, you guys hungry? Walt's a great cook."

"Matty, warming canned peaches isn't exactly gourmet cooking." Walter replied kindly. "But anyways, are you hungry? We have more than enough food."

"That would be great. Thank you." Jason stated graciously, before walking over to check on Sarita, whose eyes had just opened. Lee, Walter, and Matthew joined him by the sofa, where Jason was gently pressing a water bottle against Sarita's ribs. Sarita herself was now wide-awake, her eyes flitting from Walter to Matthew, trying to analyze them.

"Hello. I'm Walter, and I'm assuming you already met Matthew." Walter uttered, gesturing to both himself and his partner as they spoke. "Matthew led you and your friends here a short while ago."

Sarita's eyes showed clear distrust for these strangers, but Sarita was able to smile and weakly murmur "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. I'll start working on some dinner." Walter replied, wandering off to a nearby kitchen, where he began pouring canned ingredients into a pot. "Matt, can you help me for a second?" Walter inquired.

"Sure thing Walt." Matthew replied, promptly marching across the room to join his partner.

As soon as he had left, Sarita turned to Lee and asked, "What do you make of them?" Lee knew the look in her eye. She was afraid. Afraid of trusting someone who turned out to be bad, someone who didn't deserve her trust.

Lee exchanged glances with a sitting Jason before replying, "They seem trustworthy enough. You guys know I have a good bullshit detector, and honestly, they're not setting off any alarms. They seem like genuinely good people. We should try to get on their good side, and if we play our cards right, we can stay here for the winter." Lee meant every word he said. His encounter with people such as the St. Johns and the man on the radio had not completely hardened him. He still believed in good people, and he believed that he had found some of them.

"Agreed." Jason added. "But we should still be cautious. We shouldn't unpack any of our bags, and we should keep an eye on them for a couple days. But I still agree with Lee, they truly seem like good people, and we should try as hard as we can to get on their good side." Lee was glad that Jason had his back on this decision, it would make persuading Sarita much easier.

The two of them stared at Sarita for several seconds before she sighed and said, "Okay, fine. We'll stay here, try to get on their good side. But we need to be very careful, like Jason said. We get ready to leave at a moment's notice, just in case."

Lee nodded in approval, "Good idea, and we will be cautious, but I don't think we'll need to be." Lee looked over at Walter and Matthew, who were brewing up some sort of stew over a stove.

The three of them sat there for a few minutes, a deafening silence invading their ears. Jason broke the silence by muttering, "How will we ask to stay here? Its kind of asshole-y to be like 'Hey people I met today, can we stay here for the winter?'"

Sarita pondered this for a moment, before clenching her teeth in pain from her damaged ribs, and replying, "If these people are actually as nice as they seem, we play the 'injured woman' card. They'd let us stay for sure."

Lee hesitated slightly, before nodding in agreement, giving a thumbs up with his one remaining thumb. "Okay, so—"

"Alright, dinner is served. C'mon, let's eat." A voice echoed through the lodge, one that was instantly recognized as Walter's. Lee helped Sarita to her feet, and was able to help her stumble over to a chair at one of the dining tables. Lee and Jason took the seats on either side, and Walter and Matthew strolled over, delivering heaping bowls of…something, before sitting down on the opposite side of the table and helping themselves to their own bowls. Not wanting to be rude, Lee took a spoonful of the food and shoveled it into his mouth, which instantly flooded with flavor. It tasted good, but with a fairly odd consistency. Stirring the food in his bowl, Lee noticed some beans in the mix, and upon further scrutiny, he noticed a peach can on the counter.

"So…peaches and beans taste better than expected." Lee joked, trying to start a conversation.

"Heh, yeah they do." Matthew replied, who was sprinkling salt into his bowl. "It's all we got here, so we try to make the best of it."

Sarita, who was cramming heaping spoonfuls of the substance into her mouth, let out a smile, which was a rarity these days. "Thank you, for everything." She stated graciously, looking Walter and Matthew directly in the eye.

Walter grinned in reply. "No problem Sarita. We're always happy to help fellow survivors. Anyways, you don't look so good. How'd it happen?" Walter asked, looking at Sarita's battered stomach.

"We were trying to outrun a herd. Sarita tumbled down a hill into a tree." Jason told him, swallowing a mouthful of peaches and beans.

"Ah. Anyways, that injury won't heal quickly. You three can stay here for as long as you'd like, at least until Sarita's ribs mend." Walter said kindly. "Matthew, do you agree?"

"Absolutely." Matthew affirmed, "They're good people, I know it." Sarita smiled at Matthew in thanks, before she went back to eating her food.

"Thank you, both of you. What you're doing for us, it…it means a lot." Lee graciously uttered, wiping his mouth with a napkin given to him by Walter.

"Look, you guys don't need to keep thanking us. We're just trying to do the right thing, any good person would have done this." Walter assured him, staring at Lee.

Lee was about to say otherwise, but he closed his mouth, and resumed eating.

* * *

Several minutes later, Lee, Jason, and Sarita were, for the first time in months, full, their stomachs full of peaches and beans. "That tasted great. Thanks." Jason said to Matthew.

Matthew murmured a quick, "No problem, man." Before saying, "Follow me, I'll show you guys where you can sleep." The trio followed him up a flight of stairs, quickly noticing several adjacent doors, each of which presumably led to its own separate room. "Okay, that is mine and Walt's bedroom." Matthew said, pointing to another door further down the hall, before turning back to the others and saying, "You can do whatever you want with these three, they're yours."

Lee nodded in thanks, and helped Sarita stumble into the middle bedroom, where se was gently laid out on the queen-bed. Lee heard Jason mutter a quick, "Good night Matthew." Before shuffling into the bedroom where Lee and Sarita currently resided. Checking that no one was there, Jason quietly shut the door and said, "I'm trusting this guy more and more by the minute. I can tell, we won't even need to be cautious here. Those two are the kindest, most trustworthy guys I've ever met."

Sarita turned towards him and mumbled, "I actually think you are right. After talking to them, I know. These people are good people. Maybe…maybe I have to open myself up again. Maybe I've been to judgmental and cautious of people because of what happened with...with Lazarus." Sarita stuttered for a moment, past traumas reemerging in her head, before shaking them off and saying, "We're good here, I know it. At Winter's end, we take Walter and Matthew and go to Wellington, if they're up for it." She stopped to yawn, covering her mouth and emitting a loud yawn. "We should get some sleep. It's been a long day."

Lee wanted to reply, but he was already nodding off, his eyelids feeling like lead. He managed to utter a quick, " 'Night." Before shuffling towards another room and lunging onto the bed. Lee fell asleep as soon as his face hit the pillow, and didn't wake up until the morning.

_**A/N: Again, sorry I didn't update earlier, but here it is. I'll try to update one more time this week, although it may not happen. Anyways, here is my quote of the day.**_

_**Quote of the Day**_

"_**You see the good people, the people like you, they always die. And the bad people do too. But the weak people, the people like me, we have inherited the Earth."**_

_**-Morgan Jones, The Walking Dead TV Show, Episode 312, Clear**_

_**-ZombieSlayer995**_


	13. Gunshots In The Distance

_**A/N: I know how long it's been since an update, and I am so, so, so sorry. With a combination of frequent tests/essays/projects, an upcoming music evaluation, and laziness, I haven't had much time to update. A lack of motivation also played a part, but I need to write this, as I hate when writers never update their fics, and I didn't want to be hypocritical. Also, I don't want to let any of you loyal and awesome readers down, especially considering the fact that this story is much more popular than I would have ever anticipated. **_

_**Also, I've decided that if I can make time, I intend to make a sequel to the story! I like to plan ahead, and I am already bursting with ideas for a sequel story, which would end up being up to seven episodes. Anyway, I'll try to update again soon, but for now, here is mass author's note.**_

_**Smeake**__**: I'm glad you like the story, and I'll consider it, but no promises.**_

_**Epic Hobo Chuck**__**: I do have some fucking guts after all (the reference is Negan after slicing Spencer's stomach open in response to Spencer's proposed alliance, which yes, is very brutal)! In the face of a herd, I would admittedly be the one to shit my pants and make a run for it.**_

_**Thelastsoul232**__**: Thanks; I'm glad you find my depictions of the characters to be believable, especially considering the drastic changes I've made to Sarita. However, Walter and Matthew just may help her out of this…personality change. As for Matthew, he seems like a guy who Lee would find capable, so he will still go out to the shed alone.**_

_**SouthParkandTheHundredFic**__**: Thanks man, I'm glad you've enjoyed the story. It means so much that you enjoy the story.**_

_**Santiago Poncini 20**__**: Thank you so much for the reviews, especially considering the fact that you've been encouraging me since before this story was even released. As for your dismay at Omid Jr's death, remember the Walking Dead philosophy: No one is safe. The deaths of characters such as Luke and Lee in the game, to Glenn and Abraham in the comics, to Hershel and Tyreese in the TV show prove that. And these first few episodes are mere build-up…this season's final two episodes will be freaking stained with blood considering my devious plan :-) **_

_**Artamis9**__**: I'm glad you liked discussions with and about Walter and Matthew, especially considering their inevitable fates. And I agree, the Walking Dead is definitely one of my favorite games and TV shows**_

_**Leafs Nation**__**: Can you really blame Sarita for acting the way she is? I mean, by not killing that bandit, she nearly caused herself to get raped, and her friends to get killed. Maybe Walter and Matthew will help her come out of this phase? As for your thoughts about her distrusting Clem and the cabin group, I think she would still welcome them, seeing as she trusts Lee's judgment, and besides, people who have children with them are most likely good people.**_

_**Guest**__**: In a word, yes. That is one thing that Lee's appearance cannot change.**_

_**SweetProp**__**: Who doesn't like Lee? He is almost everyone's favorite character. Him, Clementine, and Luke are probably my top three, although I really like several other characters as well.**_

_**AchesAndPains**__**: Glad to see that you're enjoying the story; I'll stay tuned for yours.**_

_**Ravens and Crows of Darquesse**__**: Apparently, my source wasn't very accurate about the issue of Carley's gun, but this is a fanfiction, so it doesn't matter whether or not it actually happened in the game itself. I will try to get around to fixing the grammar and description issues that will inevitably pop up in all stories. Hell, even authors make grammar and spelling errors in books (which I like to laugh at). I will try to follow your advice about Walter and Matthew, and sorry if last chapter wasn't the best, and I hope you enjoy this one more. And again, thank you so much for providing me with the constructive criticism necessary for me to improve my writing. **_

_**Well, to make it up to everybody for taking so long before updating, this chapter is extra-long, like Chapter Twelve was. Now, ONTO THE STORY!**_

**Lee's POV**

_Three Months Later_

_It was the dead of night, and Lee was struggling against an ever-growing horde of walkers that were pressing against the wooden doors of the building. Straining with effort, he managed to firmly shut them, placing a cane in between the door handles. He looked around the building's interior in amazement, realizing that it was none other than his family's drug store: Everett's Prescriptions. He looked back at the door, and saw his father's battered cane, which was struggling to prevent an influx of hungry corpses. He took another look around the store. It was laboring to stay intact, but it was still there, instead of being the overrun ruins that he had last seen them as. Suddenly, Lee realized that he wasn't alone. "LEE! LEE, HELP ME!" An openly terrified voice proclaimed. He turned, expecting to see Doug, but instead, he eyed Jason, who was struggling to keep a horde of the dead from pulling him through the eerily familiar window, which was a mess of shattered glass and hastily attached planks of wood._

_Lee turned on his heel, about to sprint towards her and pull him free, when another grief-stricken cry echoed through the building. He looked over his shoulder and saw Sarita on the other side of the room, a walker clinging to her foot, and an empty gun in her hand. The wall nearest to Sarita looked like it would collapse at any second. Sarita looked at him, her eyes as wide as quarters, and she bellowed a piercing cry of "HELP! GET IT OFF!"_

_Lee looked from person to person, his jaw dropping. Last time, his feet had made the decision for him, but this time, all he could do was look from comrade to comrade. "You have to choose Lee. There's no other way." The voice of Clementine uttered, her tone hollow, chilling him down to the bone. He pressed his single hand to his head, tears streaming down his face as the faces of those he had lost passed his eyes. _

_That was when it happened. Like Doug, Jason was pulled through the splintered makeshift barricade, his agonized screams piercing the air as walkers dug into his flesh, hoping to satisfy their ever-present hunger for the living. His eyes growing reflective, Lee turned, and he saw Sarita pointing her gun at an approaching walker, which had toppled the damaged section of wall that she was guarding. Sarita was pulling the trigger on her empty, as if she was hoping that it would magically reload. When she was not blessed with such a miracle, the walker knocked her onto her back, sinking its teeth into Sarita's cheek. A bloodcurdling scream emanated from her throat, which was already turning into the wet gurgle of blood, which then dissipated, getting lost in the sound of feeding. All the while, Lee stood there, his legs frozen in place, his eyes letting loose a current of tears as the walkers approached him. 'Well,' Lee thought, 'This is it.' He closed his eyes, preparing himself for a gruesome, painful death._

_Suddenly, several gunshots rang through the air, causing many of the nearby walkers to slump to the floor, bleeding holes in their heads. He looked up to see Matthew plugging the dead with his rifle. Next to him was Walter, who was rapidly firing his handgun. As he listened to bullet casings ring against the tile floor, Lee already knew that they were as dead as Sarita and Jason._

_His theories were proven correct moments later, when both of their guns clicked empty. Lee looked up to see the couple share one last kiss before they were literally torn apart, with dead, rotting hands digging into their innards, screams echoing about the drug store. The feeding frenzy continued on for several more minutes, and Lee had cried until all of his tears were spent, his ducts bone-dry. He looked up at the once-again approaching walkers, and then he looked at the gun, which had been in his hands all along. He raised the blue-steel muzzle of the pistol to his mouth, closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger without a second thought._

Lee gasped in terror, his eyes shooting open as he instantly pressed his back to the headboard of the bed, curling into a fetal position like a toddler alone in the dark. He began to take deep breaths, which were able to calm him down after a few seconds. Nightmares had plagued him for months now, but they had seemingly worsened once he and his friends had met Walter and Matthew. Perhaps it was due to the fact that it added two more people to the list of people he couldn't afford to lose. In the past three months, Walter and Matthew had proven themselves to be some of the best people that he had ever met. They were naturally kind, giving, and generous, a rarity in the world they lived in. Yawning loudly, Lee tried to rub his eyes with his left hand, but only succeeded in wiggling his stump. He still forgot about his amputation sometimes. Seeing the daylight stream through the blinds, he tiredly pulled himself to out of his bed and to his feet, his bare feet making contact with the warm, fuzzy carpet that lined the floor. Hearing a grumble coming from his stomach, he opened the door and exited his room, hungry for anything other than peaches and beans.

As he neared the stairs, he spotted Sarita on the ground floor, who was idly chatting with Matthew, grinning about something he must have told her. Seeing Lee out of the corner of her eye, she smiled and beckoned him over.

As he neared the long wooden table, Lee could not help but be amazed at how much Sarita had changed over the past three months. She was not quite the person that she was when they first met, but she was definitely not the distrustful survivalist who had emerged after the shootout at the mall eleven months ago. Rather, she was more of a happy medium; Sarita was now willing to trust other people, but she still retained the circumspect nature of a survivalist. Lee knew that this was largely due to Walter and Matthew, who had proven to her that not all people were bad, and that there still were good people in the world. "Mornin' guys." Lee called out, taking a seat next to Matthew, who passed him a bowl of canned peaches.

"Hey, Lee. Wassup?" Matthew replied cheerfully. "Sleep well?" He inquired of the man.

"Not much is 'up', but I did have a good night's sleep." Lee lied. He didn't want his friends worrying about him not sleeping enough, or having nightmares about him being unable to save his friends. He knew that would just make them concerned for his well-being, something that Lee didn't want nor need.

Matthew looked at Sarita for a moment before turning back to Lee. "So anyway, Lee, Rita and I were discussing what places we would most want to go to." He paused for a brief moment before adding, "Besides Wellington, of course. For me, it would be Paris. I've always wanted to go there with Walt." The man trailed off, a dreamy grin appearing on his face. Lee smiled at this, recalling his honeymoon trip to France with his ex-wife.

"I think I would like to go to Los Angeles. I've always wanted to see how Hollywood would compare to Bollywood back in India." Sarita told Lee, who was shoveling peaches into his mouth while still providing Sarita with his undivided attention. "I always loved the movies, both here and in India, and I always wondered what it would be like to meet some of the actors. I still do, but I guess the actors are all walkers now, so it would not really be the same." Sarita joked, "At least they finally have the paparazzi off their backs now."

Lee chuckled at that comment, swallowing his peaches before adding his input, "I'm not really sure where I'd want to go. I think…it'd be Italy. I've always been fascinated by ancient Rome. Well, that and American history." To Lee, teaching at UGA was the perfect job. He had always been interested in history, and teaching itself was enjoyable, so being a college history teacher was a perfect fit for him. As for Rome, Lee had always been intrigued by the many Roman influences on pre-apocalyptic America, leading to his desire to visit the hearth of the former empire.

"Yeah, Italy does sound nice. But…Paris is still the far better option." Matthew quipped energetically. Matthew opened his mouth to speak again, but he chose to grin instead upon seeing Walter stride down the stairs, approach Matthew, and give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Hey, you." Matthew grinned.

"Hey, you." Walter replied, itching the back of his head with one hand as he used his other to tenderly grasp Matthew's hand. "Good morning Lee, Sarita." He added, noticing his friends present at the table. "Jason still asleep?"

"I guess so. I was never able to understand how you man can sleep so late." Sarita remarked, noticing through the barricaded windows that the sun was nearly halfway across the sky.

Matthew shrugged in response. "Don't ask me, I was up even before you were." He promptly got out of his seat and picked up his rifle, which was leaning against the steps, checking its ammo count. "I'm gonna go take a walk, see if I can meet anyone new."

"You need some backup?" Lee asked. "It's always good to have someone watching your back." He reasoned, but Matthew shook his head in response.

"Nah, I'm okay. And don't worry, Walt. I'll be extra-careful." Matthew stated, sharing a quick kiss with Walter before trotting towards the doorstep. "See ya' later!" He called out, the boarded-up door slamming shut behind him.

"Don't worry, he's capable, he'll be fine." Sarita reassured Walter before hearing a deep grumble come from the second floor. The three of them turned to notice Jason stumbling down the stairs like a walker, with his hair sticking every-which-way.

"Hey, guys. Matthew leave?" Jason asked lethargically, nearly falling back asleep as soon as he sat down at the table.

"Yep. He left not a minute ago." was Lee's reply. "You should eat, it'll help wake you up. Also, you should probably get a hairbrush, it'll keep you from looking like a freak." Lee joked, causing laughter to erupt around the table. Jason glared at Lee, but all it did was make everyone laugh even harder. Knowing that any more attempts to get them to stop would be futile, Jason grabbed a bowl, filling it with canned peaches before slowly spooning them into his mouth.

_Five Hours Later_

"Lee? Do you call, raise, or fold?" Jason asked, who holding his cards in one hand, and resting the other on his thigh. Lee tried to get a read on him, but Jason had a great poker face.

Lee looked at the two tens that were in his possession, and then looked at the ten of spades that was among the four cards that lay on the table. In the end, he decided to go with his gut feeling. "I'll raise." Lee replied, putting in ten chips, which was double that of Jason's original bet. "Sarita?" Lee asked, looking at the woman next to him.

Sarita gazed at the cards on the table, gazed at her own cards, and finally looked at Walter, who had already lost all of his chips, before laying her cards down in front of her and stating, "I fold." She looked at Jason expectantly, who burned a card before placing the final card on the table, which happened to be an ace.

"HA!" Jason shouted triumphantly, placing his cards down on the table. In his possession were a six and an ace, giving him two pairs. "Alright, what do ya got? Jason inquired confidently.

"Oh, not much. Just these." Lee grinned, stealing Jason's thunder as he placed his pair of tens on the table, which went with the ten that was on the table, forming a three-of-a-kind. Lee smirked watching Jason's triumphant face vanish into disappointment. He had always been good at poker.

"Shit. Really?" Jason inquired, exasperation making itself clear in his voice as he shoved his chips towards Lee, who instantly collected them, stacking them with the rest of his chips. "You've been killin' us this whole game, and I was hopin' for a little luck, you know what I—"

A loud boom interrupted Jason's sentence. The noise, which sounded like a gunshot, was echoing throughout the surrounding mountains, thus making it difficult to pinpoint the source. Walter's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "That sounded like a gunshot! Do you think it was Matthew?" Walter anxiously inquired of his friends.

"Don't worry, Walter. I'm sure a walker just got too close for comfort, and Matthew had to shoot it with his rifle. It happens every now and then." Lee assured him.

Upon hearing this, Walter's shoulders instantly relaxed, color coming back to his face. "You're probably right. I shouldn't be worrying about him. He's capable on his own, I'm sure that Matt is fine."

Sarita nodded in agreement, mumbling, "Yes, I'm sure that he's fine." From her tone, it sounded like she was trying to reassure both Walter and herself, as she and Matthew had grown close during the recent months. She gestured to the cards and chips that were scattered about the table. "Do you wish to continue?"

Lee, Jason, and Walter exchanged a few glances before Jason uttered, "Why not?" The foursome took their respective seats as Lee accepted the 'dealer' chip from Jason, passing his own 'little blind' chip to Sarita. With his single hand, Lee quickly distributed the cards as he saw the sunlight outside start to dissipate, turning into the dark tendrils of the night.

The three remaining players continued their game for the next half-hour. Sarita had lost all of her chips shortly after they resumed the game, and after a long, tedious struggle between the two, Jason came out on top, now having all the chips in his possession.

Jason grinned. "Well, that's it then. What now?" He inquired of his comrades, who had indifferent looks on their faces.

Lee looked outside through some of the exposed glass, where his gaze met numerous grey-black clouds. "It looks like there's gonna be a storm. We should probably move in some of our supplies from outside." He uttered.

Sarita nodded in approval. "That sounds like a good idea. We should—" Suddenly, an all-too-familiar noise pierced their ears. It was the sound of people, who were chatting rather loudly while attempting to open the doors, which had been securely looked after Matthew had left. Instantly quieting down, Lee gestured for the others to crouch down, looking through gaps in the windows to get a good look at what they were dealing with. From what he could see, there were six or seven of them, but he might have just been at a bad angle. For all he knew, there were dozens.

"I'll check around front." One man said. Through the window, Lee could vaguely make out the speaker: a large African-American man.

"I'll go with you." Another man stated. This man had a thick Spanish accent, and looked to be wearing plaid.

As the duo wandered off to inspect some of the boards, Lee could make out a few other voices, but rather than listen to them, he turned to Sarita, who was immediately to his left. "How many do you see?" Lee asked nervously.

"Judging from the voices, there can't be more than ten." Sarita replied. Not wanting to waste another second, they stealthily made their way over to the front doors, where they kept most of their weapons. Grabbing Carley's old pistol, Lee turned to see everyone but Walter arming themselves. Lee would have protested, but he knew that Walter wanted to take the diplomatic approach first. Besides, they were packing a decent amount of firepower anyway.

Lee looked at his friends who were standing by the door, ready to barge through. "Okay, guys; on three. One…two…THREE!" Lee kicked the door open, pointing his pistol at the portly African-American, who instantly scurried towards the back of the building upon noticing him, most likely to warn the Hispanic man, as well as the rest of his group. Panicked shouts were heard amongst the group, as well as the cocking of multiple weapons. Quickly advancing around the corner, Lee raised his pistol at the small group, which seemed to be made up of six or seven people: five men, one heavily pregnant woman, and someone else who seemed to be hiding behind the Hispanic man. Out of the corner of his eye, Lee thought he saw a small, pink silhouette descending from the ski lift, but he or she was not the imminent threat. Lee aimed his pistol at the chest of a man who bore a striking resemblance to Kenny before yelling, "No one move!"

"Just back off, leave our group alone!" Jason bellowed towards the group in front of them, leveling his rifle with the Hispanic man's neck.

"Look, calm down. We're not looking for a fight." One of the men reasoned. The man was wearing an orange shirt, appeared to be in his twenties, and was tightly gripping a machete in his palm.

"How do we know that!" Sarita countered, aiming a pistol in each hand. From there, the standoff became nothing but chaos, with shouts erupting everywhere.

"Listen everyone, just stay calm!"

"Who are you?! Are you trying to rob us?!"

"Excuse me, honey, but do I look like a fuckin' thief?!"

"Everyone, calm down!"

"Hey, man, you calm the fuck down!"

"Sarah, get behind me!"

"Just tell us who you are!"

"We ain't here to rob nobody. Put the gun down man!" The African-American man protested.

Lee was about to respond to the latter of the comments, when he saw someone attempting to push past the group, presumably the person who was descending from the ski lift, who he was able to identify as a small girl wearing a hat. His eyes quickly passed over her, and towards the main threat, when he suddenly realized the truth, lowering the gun in amazement. He had always hoped this would happen, but he never thought that—

"L–Lee?" The little girl asked in awe, her eyes tearing up with joy.

"The orange-shirted man inquired, "Clem, you know this guy?", before Lee fell to his knees, now openly crying as Clementine ran into his arms, hugging him for the first time in two years. Lee gripped her tightly as tears dripped down his face. They embraced for several more seconds before Lee wiped his eyes and stood up.

"I'll take that as a yes." Answered Walter, who was looking on in happiness. Lee had told Walter enough about Clementine that he seemed to have put two and two together.

Tucking his gun into his wasteband, Lee looked up at the group with wet eyes. "We can talk inside." He said joyously, marching back towards the entrance with Clementine by his side. Lee had never been much of a religious person, but he used to pray for Clementine to return to him almost every day. He had given up hope months ago, having accepted that they would never reunite. But after two years, the impossible had occurred. Clementine had been brought back to him.

_**A/N: Well, that was a happy chapter, was it not. It was kind of sad to kill Matthew off-screen, but the reunion with Clementine overpowers that. In the game, the Kenny/Clementine reunion was so well done, and it was so heartwarming as well. I hope I was able to create the same effect with Lee. But as we all know, things only go downhill from here, so stay tuned!**_

_**Quote Of The Day**_

"_**Hello, Cisco."**_

_**-Dr. Harrison Wells, The Flash TV show (on CW), Episode 115: Out of Time**_

_**While that may not seem like such a good quote, if you watched the episode, you'll remember how ominous that quote was, and how incredible the scene it was part of was.**_

_**-ZombieSlayer995**_


	14. The Telling of Tales

_**A/N: Hey everybody! AP Exams have been a pain in the ass, sorry. Anyway, I was glad to see so much positive feedback from last chapter. I have been really excited for that moment for quite a while, and now I have to wait until after "In Harm's Way" to start my improv storylines...I hate waiting, but the mostly canon episodes will still be pretty good as well. Well, here is the mass author's note.**_

_**ClementineTWDG**__**: Thanks for all of the positive feedback on the previous chapter. It was a really great scene to write, and I'm glad you thought the chapter was worth the wait. **_

_**Ravens And Crows Of Darquesse**__**: The nightmare was actually just a last-minute addition. I thought it would be cool to express his doubts and fears in a way that would really just chill him to the bone, so I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sorry that I rushed into meeting Clementine and the cabin group, but I kind of wanted to get on with the storyline. I hope you liked the interactions that I did add during the previous chapter though.**_

_**I take it that you aren't a fan of Kenny. I'm still yet to decide whether or not I will add any characters who have 'unknown' fates, but if I do, it will be in a believable fashion, and they wouldn't be a major focus of the season. Rather, it would happen VERY late into the story. I hope that satisfies you.**_

_**Guest**__**: I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far. Yeah, if I had made Kenny stick with Clementine (which I was considering) then that might've happened. But remember, no one is safe.**_

_**DarkStar35**__**: Sorry I took so long, but I'm glad you thought it paid off in the end. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the interactions between all the characters, and now that Lee and Clementine have reunited, maybe you will get a Lee vs. Carver showdown…I don't even know yet, most of my chapters are made up as I go along, but regardless, I'm glad that you are enjoying this story.**_

_**MagixBen1124**__**: Thanks so much. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.**_

_**Smeake**__**: I'm glad you enjoyed the reunion, and the chapter as a whole. As for the reappearance of characters such as Lilly and Kenny, read the response I gave to **__**Ravens and Crows of Darquesse**__**.**_

_**Tactus501st**__**: Wow, the Lee/Clem reunion is getting a lot of love! As for your OC, he will appear in "In Harm's Way", and I have big plans for him.**_

_**Artamis9**__**: Glad you liked the reunion. I took inspiration from the very emotional Kenny/Clem reunion, but I needed to take it up a notch, considering the fact that it is Lee/Clem instead. And yes, this is my first fanfic, but I read several of them. I intend to add a few more OC into this story, but not just yet.**_

_**Thelastsoul232**__**: Thank you so much for the kind review, it is so heartwarming when people give you a kind and encouraging review like that, it really boosts your confidence. I hope that you enjoy this chapter, which will focus on Lee and Clem catching up.**_

_**SouthParkandtheHundredFic**__**: Yeah, Alvin's line was supposed to be the introduction of the cabin group. Yes, there will be OC's. Slightly before you started to follow this fic, I hosted an OC contest, and the winning OC in question will appear next episode.**_

_**AchesAndPains**__**: Thanks, I'm glad you like the characterization of Lee.**_

_**Epic Hobo Chuck**__**: Glad you're happy to see the story return. I'm glad you got around to making an account, and it was really heartwarming to see that I was the first author that you favorited. Thank you so much.**_

_**Santiago Poncini 20**__**: Wow, I didn't think anyone actually disliked Luke (I get it though, about him leaving his post to screw Jane on the observation deck.). I do not intend to feature THAT in the story, although there will most likely be a Luke/Jane pairing. He is my favorite character who was introduced in Season Two. As for Walter, you'll see… :-). Glad you liked the chapter though.**_

_**BLACK-OP1**__**: I'm glad that you enjoyed the previous chapter. Sorry I didn't have more screen time for Matthew, but I was hoping to get into the canon "A House Divided" storyline. Also, how did you not like Season Two Clementine? I, along with many others, loved her transformation, and it is generally how I intend to depict her in this (minus the survivalist choices encouraged by Jane). And so, I am sorry in advance if you find yourself disliking my depiction of Clementine.**_

_**And now…let the story commence!**_

**Clementine's POV**

Clementine was in shock. She remembered, clear as day, when Christa and Omid had told her what had happened to Lee. She remembered when they told her that he had been forced to amputate his arm, and was lost to a herd in some alleyway in a futile attempt to save an already doomed Ben. Yet here he was, at some ski lodge in…Vermont? Pennsylvania? The apocalypse had ended Clementine's education prematurely, which meant that she was not very good at remembering the fifty states.

Despite the shock coursing through her veins, Clementine was also happier than she had been in years. The fact that she had been reunited with Lee was a miracle she never would have expected in a million years.

Lee looked down at her, smiling widely as he and the man in the red sweater led her into the ski lodge. Looking around, she could not believe her eyes. The interior of the building was lit up by electricity, something that Clementine had not seen since the early days of the apocalypse. On top of that, classical music was softly playing from a radio, and a general feeling of warmth seemed to be emanating from the building, all of which gave off a very homely and secure feeling. Noticing Clementine's amazement, Lee chuckled and put his one remaining arm around her shoulder.

The other man, who she heard Lee identify as 'Walter' also noticed Clementine's amazement with the ski lodge. He told her, "Lee, Jason, and Sarita have been staying with us for several weeks. Used to be a ski lodge, obviously, so we have plenty of food. And, uh, believe it or not, we still get some power from that wind turbine out front." Walter was slowly strolling up the stairs as he spoke, gesturing to points of interest, such as the fireplace, the kitchen, and the Christmas tree. "We tend to keep most of the lights off at night to avoid drawing attention, but after we found this stuff in storage, we couldn't resist making an exception."

Looking around, Clementine couldn't remember the last time she was this happy. She had reunited with Lee, her presumed dead guardian, and she had found a wondrous place, complete with electricity and a Christmas tree. She looked up at Lee and grinned, upon which Lee smiled back at her. "I can't believe you're back." Lee stated, sounding very emotional.

"Anyway, why don't you two catch up while I get dinner started." Walter suggested politely. Hearing the sound of footsteps, Clementine spun around to see Luke, Nick, Alvin, and Rebecca entering the building, entranced by what was inside, but still remaining cautious. "Please, make yourself at home. You can leave your things over there." Walter informed her new friends, gesturing towards a wooden bench that was leaning against the wall.

Luke and the rest didn't seem too happy with that suggestion. "The hell we will." Rebecca uttered, seemingly unconvinced. 'Please, Rebecca, don't mess this up for me, PLEEEASE.' Clementine thought, not wanting to lose Lee nor her new group.

Nick didn't help Clementine's situation by adding his input. "Yeah, I'm holdin' onto my rifle, thanks." He insisted gloomily, still clearly depressed about Pete's painful demise by the stream.

Walter seemed like a good person to Clementine, which was further proven when he tried to assure them, "You're our guests here. There's no need to worry."

"Tell him to put his gun down, then." Nick replied, looking at the imposing, one-armed African-American that was formerly her guardian nervously.

In response to this, Walter, turned to Clementine's guardian. "Lee?" He inquired, waiting on an answer.

Lee's eyes narrowed as he looked at each present member Clementine's new group, one by one. "Clementine, do you vouch for them? I don't know them, but I trust your judgment. What you say goes." He informed her, waiting on a decision.

Nick seemed like he was about to speak, but Clementine, hoping to avoid any conflict, quickly muttered, "They're cool." While this quieted the room, tension filled the air, with a silent standoff seemingly going on between Nick and Lee, which was only interrupted by the sound of swinging hinges.

The source of the noise was the doors opening, as well as four more people walking inside. Clementine didn't had no clue as to who the Caucasian man and the South Asian woman were, but she recalled Walter mentioning that Lee had arrived with two others…Jason and Sarita. 'If Lee trusts them, they have to be good people." She thought.

"Dad, look! A Christmas tree!" The ever-enthusiastic Sarah interrupted. After spending a week with her, Clementine still wasn't sure what to think of her. She seemed extremely energetic and childishly naïve, a trait that Clementine had lost long ago, in the city where her previous group splintered apart into nothing. Clementine knew that a personality like that would inevitably be Sarah's death sentence, but then she remembered training Sarah to use a gun. The teenager clearly had potential, just like Clementine did, but she had not reached it just yet. Maybe with a little more training, as well as some exposure to the outside world, Sarah would be able to defend herself.

The Indian woman, who Clementine remembered to be Sarita, also seemed to notice this. Sarita looked Sarah over, seemingly analyzing her, before smiling. 'She probably hasn't seen anything so innocent in a while.' Clementine thought. "Isn't it great? We found it all in storage." Sarita asked kindly.

"It's amazing." Sarah replied, entranced by the sight. At this, Clementine noticed Lee gazing at the two of them, his facial expression soft. Having seemingly made up his mind about Clementine's group, Lee walked over to the bench and gently placed his pistol down, eying the others expectantly. Luke was the first to follow Lee's lead, unsheathing his trusty machete and placing it adjacent to Lee's gun. Others quickly followed in suit, lowering their weapons onto the bench or the floor. Lastly, Clementine slid her purple backpack off of her shoulders, gingerly laying it on the floor.

Jason, who was silently leaning against the wall until this point, also followed Lee's lead, using his foot to kick his rifle across the floor and under the bench. "If y'all want to follow me, I can show you where the bedrooms are, assuming that you're gonna be stayin' for a bit." Jason stated, gesturing with his hand for Luke and the rest to follow him, which they did, beleaguered after their five-day trek. While Clementine's new group followed Jason, Walter strolled over to a bench on the other side of the room, while Sarita sat on the carpeted stairs that led to the upstairs bedrooms. Lee stayed with Clementine, motioning for her to join him by a blazing fireplace, which was surrounded by upholstered chairs and a long sofa.

Clementine was the first to sit down on the couch, her legs instantly relaxing as her acing muscles finally rested. Lee sat down next to her, staring at her with awe and emotion. They stayed that way for a while before Lee broke the silence, emotionally uttering, "I prayed for so long, hoping that you'd find your way back to me. I just can't believe it actually happened." Clementine smiled in response, also in awe of the fact that she had reunited with Lee. Suddenly, Lee's smile fell slack, his neck tilting so that he was looking at the floor, seemingly in sadness. "What happened to Christa, Kenny, and Omid? I told them to save you if anything happened to me, and they clearly did, but…are they dead?"

Clementine's happy expression morphed into one of sorrow. Clementine took a long, shaky breath before recalling, "The man who took me was the man who owned the Station Wagon we stole from. He said that when you and the group stole his supplies, we doomed his whole family. He wanted me to become his pretend-daughter, I think."

Lee put his head in his one-remaining palm, rubbing his brow sadly. "Well, shit. I can't say I was expecting that. I am so sorry that you had to deal with that Sweet Pea, I should have been able to protect you from him." He muttered.

Clementine shook her head vigorously, "Lee, it's okay, it wasn't your fault." She assured him, before continuing, "Kenny, Omid, and Christa were able to find me at The Marsh House, and they fought with that…stranger for a while, but I had to shoot him to save Christa." Lee's eyes widened and his mouth opened to speak, but Clementine was able to stop him from interjecting by continuing without any pause. "Christa told me that you died, and that we had to get out, but when we tried, a herd cornered us. My parents were there…" Clementine stopped, and looked down at the ground in sadness, recalling the haunting faces of her parents, who would have devoured her if not for Christa.

Clementine felt Lee's hand on her shoulder, and heard him tell her, "Jesus…I'm so sorry, Clem. I'm so sorry."

Sitting up, Clementine blinked a few times before moving on with the story. "Kenny sacrificed himself to the herd so that we could escape, and after that, I was with Christa and Omid. Omid…" Clementine once again paused, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. "Well," She resumed, "Christa and I were together for a while, but these guys caught us. She's gone."

Clementine ended her story there, and no words left Lee's mouth for the next few seconds. Clementine assumed that he was just taking it all in, but she couldn't be sure. Suddenly, Clementine remembered that she had questions as well. "What happened with you? After Savannah, I mean." Clementine asked of Lee.

Lee blinked rapidly for a few seconds before telling her, "Well, we were crossing some rooftops on our way to The Marsh House, but one of the balconies we were jumping off of collapsed, with Ben on it. I went down into the alley to help him, but the whole place was a death trap. I wasn't able to get back to the roof, so I just bolted, I guess. I spent a long time alone after that, just…wandering. I'm just really fucking glad to have met Sarita and Jason. I don't know if I could've made it all this time without them." Lee looked at Clementine expectantly for a brief moment, before amusedly remarking, "You didn't comment that I swore."

Clementine shook her head before commenting, "I guess that I've already went through that phase. After all that's happened, swearing doesn't mean anything."

Lee looked slightly downtrodden by this, seemingly saddened by the prospect of Clementine's innocence being lost, but he still looked up at Clementine with a smile, and stated, "Makes sense, Clem." Lee opened his mouth presumably to add something, but his head turned upon hearing approaching footsteps.

Clementine turned toward the source of the noise to see some of Lee's friends, Jason and Sarita, approaching them. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Clem, these are my friends, Sarita and Jason." Lee proclaimed, "They helped me through a lot of tough times; I doubt I'd be here if not for them."

Sarita smiled warmly at Clementine. "It's nice to finally meet you, Clementine. Lee has told us so much about you." Sarita kindly stated.

Jason, who seemed to be feeling slightly awkward just standing there, muttered, "Yeah, Lee's mentioned you almost every day. It must be nice, to reunite with lost friends." Clementine noticed that Jason's tone was laced with depression, a feeling that she knew all too well. 'He must have lost people close to him.' Clementine thought, 'But then again, who hasn't?'

Her train of thought was interrupted by Lee, who called, "Hey, Walt, is Matthew still out there?" Clementine wondered who this 'Matthew' was. 'Another one of their friends, I guess.' Clementine thought.

"Of course he is." Walter replied casually," Well, I'll start dinner." Walter walked off towards a kitchen-like area and began to turn a few valves on the stove, placing a large pot on top of it.

"Can we do anything to help?" Another person interjected, who was revealed to be Luke, with Nick at his side.

"I guess we could use some help bringing some supplies inside before that storm hits. Could you help with that?" Lee suggested.

"Sure." Nick muttered, wandering off to help, with Luke following in suit.

"Clem, why don't you go on and help Walt with dinner?" Lee proposed, stretching his single arm in exhaustion. Despite having heard about his amputation from Christa and Omid, it still was a little creepy to see Lee with one of his arms ending in a stump. Clementine put that thought out of her mind and decided to follow through with Lee's suggestion to help Walter with dinner.

After taking a few steps, Clementine felt a light tap on her shoulder. Upon turning around, she saw that it was Sarita, who was looking slightly nervous. "Clementine, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" She asked.

"I guess not. What is it?" Clementine curiously inquired.

Sarita led her over to the main entrance, which was relatively far from the rest of both groups. "I know that Lee trusts you, so I will go ahead and trust you. I just need to know…do you trust your group? Are they good people?" Sarita asked.

Clementine nodded, "Yeah, I guess. They have their faults, but doesn't everyone?"

Sarita sighed. "I guess everyone does have faults." Sarita thought aloud. They stood there, not saying anything for a few seconds, before Sarita looked at Clementine and reminded her, "You should go help Walter." And escorted her over to the kitchen before roaming off to one of the lengthy wooden dining tables.

Looking up at Walter, Clementine noticed the middle-aged man using a long, wooden spoon to stir the various ingredients that would reside in tonight's dinner. "Hey, Clementine. Settling in well enough?" Walter kindly inquired.

"Yeah, thanks." She shrugged, staring at the warm metal pot in hunger.

"Excellent. Want to help me prepare a little dinner? Walter asked cheerfully, taking his spoon out of the pot for a few seconds before putting it back in and resuming the process of stirring the food. "Lee's told us all so much about you. He said that you were the only thing keeping him going until he met Sarita and Jason."

This intrigued Clementine. "Really?" She asked curiously.

"Yep. You were what motivated him to keep on living, especially when he was on his own." Walter replied. Adding a shake of salt, Walter continued to stir the pot, stating, "Connecting with people is so important. I don't know what I'd do without Matthew."

Looking down into the pot, he added more salt, before taking a look at Clementine and telling her, "Gosh, you remind me of my students. I can't imagine what it's like growing in the middle of all this."

'Okay, so he's a teacher.' Clementine thought, but she was also slightly annoyed by the fact that Walter seemed to be underestimating her. "Everyone underestimates me." She told him.

Looking up from his pot, Walter replied, "I expect you've used that to your advantage."

Clementine shrugged. "Sometimes." She admitted.

This brought a smile to Walter's face. "Smart girl." He remarked, ceasing to stir the pot. Instead, he took the spoon out and put it to his lips, having a taste of whatever he was currently cooking. "Hmm, almost done. Would you do me the honor of tasting the first course, madam?

Leaning over, Clementine peered into the pot to see a strange, lumpy looking mixture. 'Looks kind of disgusting.' Clementine thought, knowing that it would be the kind of meal that most kids would deny just by looking at it. "What is this?" Clementine decided to say, not wanting to sound rude.

"Le Walter Surprise. An autumnal legume salad with a peach roux." Walter jokingly replied. Upon earning a disgusted face from Clementine, he admitted, "It's peaches and beans. It's all we got."

Walter suddenly looked down at another item on the counter, which seemed to be a can of sorts. "Huh. Striking resemblance." Walter commented, holding up an eerily familiar can. Clementine's eyes widened as Walter stated, "Anyway, I'll take it from here." With that, Walter lifted the pot by its handles and proceeded to walk farther into the kitchen, presumably to alter it in some other way.

Clementine was still in shock from seeing that can. She had seen the same exact type of can at the shack by the bridge. Looking around, Clementine didn't know what was going on, but she could tell that something was wrong.

_**A/N: I am really sorry for not updating. No, I have not given up on this fanfic, but I just haven't had much free time recently. I intend to see this story to its end. **_

_**Quote of the Day:**_

"_**No, no, no, no, I kill the bus driver,"**_

_**-The Joker, The Dark Knight**_

_**-ZombieSlayer995**_


	15. Author's Note: Revision Related

Hey, guys. I'm sorry I haven't been working much lately, but revision just feels like more of a chore than anything else, despite the fact that I find it necessary. The first 3 chapters are revised and ready to be read. I had almost finished revising the fourth, but I accidentally lost my work, so I must restart that at another time. As such, I hope that I can finish soon. I hope to finish revising episode 1 before finishing the episode, upon which I will revise Ep. 2. That is all. Sorry for the delays

-ZombieSlayer995


End file.
